1. The newly refurbished and equipped dedicated Year 7 Base opened on schedule for the start of term, and is proving to be a fantastic resource for our 100 new Year 7 children. It has certainly helped smooth the transition from primary to secondary school, and was also the venue for RPA's 1st Birthday Party last week - held in glorious autumn sunshine
2. Our Year 7 and Year 8 cohorts are now significantly more local than those higher up the academy - 60% of the children arriving in September 2010 and 2011 attended primary schools less than 2 miles away from RPA. Those from further afield include former pupils of Belleville Primary School in Wandsworth, a school of such outstanding quality it was recently named as one of the government's first 100 teaching schools in the country
3. The project team, including architects, are now actively engaged in planning the £10m spend. Any CB members wishing to become involved in the consultation, which will run into Q1 2012, are invited to contact the headteacher
4. There has been a significant increase (more than double) in the number of families visiting the academy for tours since the start of term compared with the same period last year, and our open evening also saw an encouraging growth in attendees
5. 71% of all families attending tours and / or the open evening came from primary schools within Richmond Borough and / or located less then 2 miles from RPA - additional evidence that the progression towards being a local academy for local children looks set to continue.
6. Attached ( inlcuded in this mail) article in Richmond Twikenham Times on progress at RPA .
7. Next week we shall also be sharing with you the half term report. Please do revert back to us if you need more details or clarifications or have any questions or concerns about the progress at RPA. We will be happy to share more information with parents and invite all to have a discussion on the blog.
HAPPY HALF TERM!
