Dear Families

Everyday ambition
It has been a wonderful half term filled with so many memorable moments. However, one of my favourite things has been simply spending time in lessons. It is such a pleasure to be able to walk the corridors each day, popping into lessons and witnessing the incredible ambition and hard work from our students. Our students are fortunate to be taught by an amazing team of subject expert teachers and it's brilliant to witness them so focussed and determined! 


Flights of Fact and Fiction
We had a very special day of learning with our Year 9s as part of our ‘Flights of Fact and Fiction’ event. This day brought together English, science and humanities in a unique way. As part of the day, students were able to experience a stunning live bird of prey display, followed by a series of lessons built around our Fundamental Ideas curriculum. Our students were fantastic – curious, engaged and full of insightful questions. It was a wonderful day to be part of and I look forward to developing further curriculum days to help bring our curriculum to life.


Wider opportunities
As I’ve said previously, we remain committed to developing a rich programme of wider opportunities to support students' learning beyond the classroom. I’m pleased that our partnership with Nottingham Hoods Basketball is going from strength to strength and it’s wonderful to see such dedication in their training sessions both before and after school!


A huge well done to our Year 9 boys' football team for representing the academy so brilliantly.


Also, congratulations to our Year 9 students who completed a weekend of training ahead of their Duke of Edinburgh's Bronze Expedition. We hope to see even more students involved in the Duke of Edinburgh's programme this year!


Reading and the library
There's always lots going on in terms of reading at the academy. During Ramadan, our library provided a quiet space for reflection and prayer. We also developed a pop-up library in the dining hall so students could continue to find and exchange books during lunch.



Reading is so popular at Wells and it was brilliant to see a group of Year 8 students who visited Waterstones in Nottingham to learn more about the publishing industry. Following that, they all chose new books to add to our library collection!


Another group took part in a workshop with YouTuber, Leena Norms, known for her book reviews. Our students created their own responses to their favourite books and it was a joy to see their creative ideas!

At Wells, we always say that 'reading is the key that unlocks our curriculum' and so we are committed to ensuring that every student is a confident reader. At any point during the year, 150 students access our various reading interventions. One group made 6 years of progress in fluency and vocabulary over the course of their programme which is such an outstanding achievement.


Family engagement
Thank you to our Year 9 student ambassadors who supported our recent Year 8 Parents’ Evening – they were fantastic serving refreshments to staff and making our visitors feel welcome. It was great to see such a strong turnout. These evenings are such an important opportunity to discuss student progress and next steps. Our next Parents' Evening is for Year 7 families and it takes place on Thursday 1st May 2025. Further information will be shared closer to the date.


Another exciting moment was our students’ participation in an engineering challenge at the University of Nottingham. We were proud to have a team representing us as part of The Faraday Challenge.


Student feedback
As you know, we take student feedback very seriously. In their recent Student Voice Survey, so many students said that they would love to see chicken and chips on our menu. I am delighted to say that this will become a reality with our new menu launching on the first Friday after the Easter break. We had a tasting session on the final day of term and our students were very impressed! Thank you to our catering team for their support!


Year 11 Achievement Week and exam prep
The final week of term was especially important for our Year 11 students. We held our ‘Achievement Week’ where the timetable was collapsed to allow a focused programme of masterclasses, workshops and intensive interventions to support preparation for exams.


GCSE examinations begin on Thursday 8th May, and we have a full programme of revision and intervention sessions running throughout the Easter break. Please do encourage your child to attend – our staff have generously given their time to ensure students are fully supported.

Attendance Award
As you're aware, we were absolutely thrilled to be awarded an Inclusive Attendance Award recently – a real testament to the efforts of staff, students and families. As ever, we want to go even further. Being 'In School, On Time' every day is the best way for students to achieve success. We really appreciate your continued support.


Finally, I’d like to wish all our families a peaceful and happy Easter holiday. Please remember that Monday 21st April is a Bank Holiday. The academy reopens on Tuesday 22nd April. Our Breakfast Club will be open from 8am, with the Year 11 VIP Breakfast also continuing. Gates will open for all students at 8.20am.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Best wishes

Mr G Coles
Principal