Thursday 27th April – Years 11, 12 & 13 should come to school as normal.
Tuesday 2nd May – Years 10, 11, 12 & 13 should come to school as normal.

Parents of children who are particularly vulnerable, please complete the form previously linked in the recent ParentMail if your child needs to attend school on these days.

All students will depart at 12.05pm on Friday 31st March 2023. We look forward to seeing all students return on Monday 17th April 2023

School will be closed for Years 7-10 but will be open for Years 11 and Sixth Form plus any children who are particularly vulnerable.

Please complete the form previously linked in the recent ParentMail if your child needs to attend school on this day.

School will be closed for Years 8-11 but will be open for Years 7 and Sixth Form plus any children who are particularly vulnerable.

Please complete the form previously linked in the recent ParentMail if your child needs to attend school on this day.

School will be closed for Years 7-10 and 12 but will be open for Year 11 and 13 plus any children who are particularly vulnerable.

Please complete the form previously linked in the recent ParentMail if your child needs to attend school on this day.

Unfortunately, we are still facing difficulties with the heating system within the Reuben Business Centre, therefore we have made the decision to close the school to the following year groups on Tuesday 20th December 2022.

Year 10
Year 11

Students in Years 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13 will be relocated to different buildings within Oxford Spires Academy should they have lessons in the Reuben Business Centre.

Work will be set for all students in Year 10, and Year 11 using Microsoft Teams, the system we have put in place for remote learning.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

Unfortunately, we have made the decision to close the school to the following year groups on Monday 19th December 2022.

Year 8
Year 9
Year 12

Due to a failure with the boiler, we have no heating in the Reuben Business Centre, one of the main buildings within the school.

The facilities team and specialists have been working on site today and while investigations continue we have no alternative option other than to reduce the number of students in school. Students in Year 7, 10, 11 and 13 will be relocated to different buildings within Oxford Spires Academy should they have lessons in the Reuben Business Centre.

Work will be set for all students in Year 8, Year 9 and Year 12 using Microsoft Teams, the system we have put in place for remote learning.

A further update will be issued tomorrow afternoon via the school website and ParentMail.

Please find our latest Parent/Carer Update here Parent Update Edition 2 Nov 2022

A reminder about Rags to Riches, our new fundraising venture. We’re asking parents and carers to donate any unwanted clothes, shoes and accessories. For every kilo donated, Rags to Riches will pay the school 40p. Rags to Riches is not a charity, but it directs donations to people in need and at the moment donations are going to Ukraine. Rags to Riches will be collecting the clothes from Oxford Spires on Wednesday 30th November. You can donate clothes any time from now until the 29th November – please drop them off at reception labelled ‘Rags to Riches/FOSA’. If you need bags, they are available at reception.

We ask that you only donate items that someone else would be able to use – good quality, clean clothes and accessories. Please, no worn out shoes and clothes, bric a brac or uniform.

This term, in our English lessons, we have enjoyed reading The Bone Sparrow in Year 7, A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in Year 8, Of Mice and Men in Year 9, An Inspector Calls in Year 10, Romeo and Juliet in Year 11, The Handmaid’s Tale in Year 12 and Othello in Year 13. 

We thoroughly recommend reading for pleasure to our students and to support with this we are sharing reading lists for KS3-5. Many of these books can be found in our excellent library and if the one you want isn’t there, speak to Mr Sheppard who will happily look into ordering it.

As well as improving your literacy skills, reading is beneficial for your mental health. There’s no better way to warm the winter months then a good book in our opinion.

Please see the latest Parent Update – 30th September 2022 which also includes a safeguarding update

Parent Update Edition 1 Sept 2022
Dealing With Grief

Oxford Spires is delighted to announce that we have won the English-Speaking Union’s Oracy Culture Award, 2022. This is the only national award which recognises and celebrates those schools placing oracy at the heart of their curriculum and each year one school is chosen as the secondary school winner. The ESU said that our range of oracy opportunities and the commitment to expanding the reach of programmes was “inspiring”.

External competitions are a big part of Spires, of course, and in the last five years, we have reached the regional final of the Mock Trial three times and the national final of the ESU Churchill competition twice. Year 7 and 8 students have an unbeaten record in the local New College Debate. Importantly, as students have witnessed and heard about each other’s successes, more and more have become involved, creating a virtuous cycle of widening participation. Last year, over half of the school participated in extra-curricular oracy events.

But it’s not just about extra-curricular work. Oracy is at the heart of what Spires does. From debates and “Dance Card” discussions in History, to using speaking frames and sentence builders in MFL to encourage students to use humour and express personal and unusual ideas, we put articulate speaking at the centre of our learning.

Ms Morris, Mr Hart and Dr Watson, who work in enrichment, are all keen to meet students who would like to participate in this year’s extra-curricular speaking. If your child would like to be involved, please encourage them to go along to one of the clubs, check their Outlook email or with their tutor for information, or talk to one of the enrichment staff.

Dr Jackie Watson – Head of Sixth Form, Careers and Enrichment

Following the announcement of the Queen’s State Funeral date over the weekend, this is just to confirm that Oxford Spires Academy will be observing Monday 19^th September as a Bank Holiday.  The school will be closed to all staff and students on this day.

Uniform ordered via the Price and Buckland website for the start of the September term will be available to collect from school reception on Thursday 1st September 12:00noon – 3:00pm and Friday 2nd September between 9:00am – 12:00noon.

We are absolutely delighted to report our exceptional 2022 GCSE results, the first set of results since 2019 for which students took a full complement of examinations. Improvements have been made this year against the last set of formal examinations and have continued the impressive results gained over the last few years.

We are tremendously proud of all our students’ excellent results. They have worked hard through the most difficult of times. Despite this, the numbers of students gaining passes and strong passes has continued to rise. The number of grades 7 to 9 has also increased and students have achieved the necessary levels for the next stage in their education. We are delighted to be able to congratulate them in person today. We also want to thank parents and staff who have supported them throughout their exam years.

The percentage of students achieving a Grade 4 in English and Maths is to 71% and those achieving a Grade 5 in English and Maths is a tremendous 52%
In English, 79% of students achieved the Grade 4 and above, with 67% achieving the Grade 5 or above. In Maths, 76% gained a Grade 4 or above, and 55% gained a Grade 5 or above. Well done to all the students and teaching staff for their hard work and dedication in making this possible.

Due to the changing nature of qualifications, no school is able to publish an accurate and official progress 8 figure until the Department for Education releases this later in the Autumn term. However, we have seen an excellent initial figure that has been calculated on the 2019 data. This gives us a positive score again showing that students who study at Oxford Spires Academy make more progress than other students do from similar starting points nationally.

These results are a testament of the impact that Oxford Spires Academy has on the outcomes and life chances of its students.

In addition there have been some exceptional individual student outcomes. We are absolutely delighted that hard work, dedication and fantastic teaching has enabled our students to achieve the very best grades across the board. The students below have achieved a fantastic array of top grades across their GCSE and BTec subjects.

• Nora Jepson: 10x Grade 9s and 3x Grade 8s
• Herbie Austin-Baker: 8x Grade 9s, 3x Grade 8s and a Grade 7
• Freya Hull: 7x Grade 9s, 4x Grade 8s & 1x Grade 7
• George Schwebel: 6x Grade 9s, 3 Grade 8s & 2 Grade 7s
• Anton Zebisch: 10 Grade 9s, 3 x Grade 8s
• Charlotte Olley: 6 Grade 9s, 4x Grade 8s & 2 Grade 7s
• Ayesha Chorley: 5 Grade 9s, 6x Grade 8s & 1x Grade 7

Our GCSE results along with our A Level results clearly show the sustained progress that Oxford Spires Academy continues to make, despite the challenges over the last three academic years. We would like to congratulate all our students on their well-deserved success and thank the teaching staff, the governors and of course the parents, who have guided and supported them. I am incredibly proud to be the incoming Principal of such a progressive, positive and successful school.

Rich Corry
Principal

Sixth Form Press Release

A-LEVEL RESULTS AT OXFORD SPIRES ACADEMY

Thursday 18th August 2022

Oxford Spires Academy’s Sixth Formers continue to go from strength to strength!

Once again, Oxford Spires is delighted with another set of excellent A level results. Despite a difficult year nationally, and the legacy of Covid, Year 13 students showed that hard work and determination lead to success.

Oxford Spires is a school that prides itself on education for the community it serves in East Oxford. The vast majority of the year group go to university, and have met their UCAS offers. We are pleased to see three heading to Oxford University this year: Martyn Conmy going to Queen’s College to read History and Politics; Alex Dunn to Trinity to read Modern Languages; and Gaby Reynolds to Worcester College for Mathematics and Computer Science.

We congratulate all students, and particularly those with top grades, in a year group where A level results have hit the headlines. Our top performers this year, and their university courses, are:

• Martin Conmy – English Literature A*; Politics A*; History A*; Extended Project A (University of Oxford: History and Politics)
• Alex Dunn – French A*; Maths A*; Music B; Extended Project A (University of Oxford: Modern Languages)
• Flora Pizey – Art A*; History A*; Philosophy and Ethics A* (Art Foundation)
• Kai Mattinson – Chemistry A; Computing A*; Maths A*; Further Maths A (University of Bath: Computer Science)
• Erin Reynolds – Maths A*; Further Maths A; German A*; English Literature A (Gap Year)
• Gaby Reynolds – Maths A*; Further Maths A*; Physics A; History B (University of Oxford: Maths and Computer Science)
• Rani Khanafer – Chemistry A; Maths A*; Further Maths A; Physics A (Imperial College, University of London: Physics)
• Buster Van der Geest – Drama A*; German A; History A; Extended Project A (University of St Andrews: History)
• Cian Anderson – Art A*; Computing A; Music A (University of Buckinghamshire: 3D Games Art)
• Shannon Ghee – Biology A; History A; Extended Certificate Sport Distinction* (University of Bath: Health and Exercise Science)

Head of Sixth Form, Dr Jackie Watson, comments, “I am delighted to see so many of our Year 13 doing so well in a year that has been tough for everyone. These were their first external exams, because of Covid, and they proved to themselves that they could do it! I wish them all every success at university, in apprenticeships and in their future careers.”

Here is our latest school newsletter. Please enjoy the read.

From September 2022 we shall be changing the timings of the school day. This will be five days a week.

The new timings will be as follows:

08:30 – 09:00 – Tutor time
09:00 – 10:00 – Period 1
10-00 – 11:00 – Period 2
11:00 – 11:20 – Break
11:20 – 12:20 – Period 3
12:20 – 13:20 – Period 4
13:20 – 14:00 – Lunch
14:00 – 15:00 – Period 5

At OSA, we are supporting Pride Month. Pride Month is about acceptance, equality, celebrating the work of LGBTQ+ people, education in LGBTQ+ history and raising awareness of issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community. It also calls for people to remember how damaging homophobia was and still can be. Pride is all about being proud of who you are no matter who you love.

To celebrate this, the school will be looking at the History of LGBTQ+ to educate and raise awareness during tutor time; and running a ‘Design a Postcard’ competition based on the theme ‘Kindness’.

As well as this, we are having a non-uniform day on Friday 24 June. The theme will be ‘bright colours’. All money raised will be split between;The Proud Trust–a organisation that supports LGBT+ young people through youth groups, peer support, mentoring programs; and; MindOut– a mental health service working to improve the mental health and wellbeing of all LGBTQ communities and to make mental health a community concern.

We ask all students to donate a minimum of £1 on the day. Money will be collected at the entrance to the school at the start of the day so please make sure your child has some cash on them!

Regarding what to wear, there are a few rules. Please make sure that there are no items of clothing with offensive words or images on them, footwear needs to be safe for school, so no ‘slides’, sandals or other open toed shoes, and no high heels. For the safeguarding of all students, clothing must not be revealing or see through.

We ask that all outdoor coats are removed in classrooms and that hoods, hats/caps are not to be worn inside. Head coverings such as scarfs/bandanas/durags are allowed to be worn inside and in lessons on this day. Please note that flags are not items of clothing and are not permitted as part of this day. 

We encourage students to wear bright colours!

All students must bring in their normal school bag and be equipped for learning. Regular school kit must be worn for PE lessons.

Oxford Spires Academy is delighted to present to you a summary of our achievements and success throughout this academic year to date. With Years 11-13 now in formal exams, many for the first time, it is important to recognise and showcase many of the different enrichment opportunities students receive along their journey through the school. Having had three years of disruption to school trips, tours, enrichment activities, and a restriction of visiting speakers being able to attend the school site, we are now expanding the number of opportunities that students are able to engage with.

May 2022 Achievements Newsletter

As you may have read in the last newsletter, we are planning a non-uniform day this coming Friday, and it is not an April Fool’s joke! We are looking to raise as much money as possible, split equally between three excellent charities:

1. British Red Cross
2. Women’s Aid
3. Greggs Foundation

We ask all students to donate a minimum of £1 on the day. Money will be collected at the entrance to the school at the start of the day so please make sure your child has some cash on them!

Regarding what to wear, there are a few rules. Please make sure that there are no items of clothing with offensive words or images on them. Footwear needs to be safe for school, so no ‘sliders’, sandals or other open toed shoes, and no high heels. For the safeguarding of all students, clothing must not be revealing or see through.

We welcome students coming to school in their ethnic/cultural dress if they so wish. We ask that all outdoor coats are removed in classrooms and that hoods, hats/caps are not to be worn inside. Head coverings such as scarfs/bandanas/durags are allowed to be worn inside and in lessons on this day.

The booking system for Year 12 Parents’ Evening is open now and closes Wednesday 6th April (4.00pm).

How to book:
Please visit: https://oxfordspiresacademy.schoolcloud.co.uk

To log in you will need to use the information that we hold on our school data base (e.g. the same email address as your ParentMail account).

If you need any further assistance booking your appointments, please see the attached booking guide or feel free to contact Sandra Poyser.

Parent Guide - School Cloud Booking System

Dear Parent/ Carer of Year 8

The school has seen a rise in the number of staff Covid-19 cases over the last 48 hours with new cases being reported today.  We have reviewed the cover needs for tomorrow, and the number of lessons that require cover and we have tried to secure external supply staff as well. Unfortunately, it has become clear that we will not be able to safely run the school at full capacity with the projected number of absent staff.  We are therefore going to close the school tomorrow for Year 8 students. 

Work for Year 8 will consist of live streamed lessons at their normal lesson time. Students will access these by opening Teams and clicking the blue “Join” button on the Year 8 Team when the lesson starts. They should have their exercise books or some paper and a pen available at the start of the lesson.

If you experience any ICT problems please email ictsupport@spires.anthemtrust.uk

If you have any other questions or concerns about the work please email mdixon@spires.anthemtrust.uk

Kind Regards

Maurice Dixon – Senior Vice Principal