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Secondary Prospectus

“We demand the very highest expectations from

our students - in attitude, in learning and in self belief”

Principal

With our unique educational philosophy and state of the art learning environment, The Folkestone Academy places learning at the heart of our community. We are a comprehensive, All Age Academy maintained by state funding.

Our exciting curriculum ensures the individual development of every student, from the Primary phase right through to our unique post 16 curriculum in the Academy Sixth Form.

Vision

As a community of over 1500 students we pride ourselves on our House structure, which ensures that every individual studentis part of a small ‘House family’. Through this sense of belonging our students learn to appreciate difference and to understand the importance of tolerance and compassion.

The Folkestone Academy respects individuals by:

Understanding everyone’s needs

Establishing clear expectations

Appreciating diversity

Belong

“My confidence has grown during Year 7 as I have

made many new friends”

Year 7 Student

“The Academygives you many

opportunities and awide range of coursesto achieve what you

want in life”

Year 11 Student

The years that our young people spend with us on their secondary school journey will be the most influential as they change from being children to young adults. We aim to shape, nourish and develop them as learners, as citizens and key members in their own communities.

The Folkestone Academy develops students by:

Creating a love for learning

Supporting each other’s learning

Understanding that we are all learners

Develop

“I have had the helpand support from my

teachers to achieve highertargets than expected ”

Year 8 Student

Quite simply we believe that everyone can succeed and it is our job to create the right opportunities for this to happen. We are particularly proud of how many times in a year a student is able to celebrate that success - from gaining a credit stamp in their student planner to attending our prestigious annual Academy Awards Evening.

The Folkestone Academy believes in celebrating students’ successes by:

Having a time and a place to celebrate success

Being proud of what we have achieved

Measuring success in different ways

Succeed

“Good care, guidance and support have a positive

impact on students’ learning”

Ofsted, 2010

AchieveWe have the very highest expectations for all our students, believing that everyone can achieve their full potential. Our behaviour policy aims to develop students into responsible and caring young adults who think carefully about themselves and others.

Each student has a Rewards Bank Account in which positive work and effort result in credits, while actions and attitudes that are deemed to warrant sanctions will result in debits. Students will see their account balance fluctuate as a result of their choices, so recognising the link between action and consequence. At regular intervals students are able to cash their credits in for actual rewards.

“The House means webelong somewhere.

They help us if we havea problem or have lost

our planner”

Year 10 Student

IdentifyThe House system is the heartbeat of the Academy, with every student belonging to a House, where they are able to feel part of a smaller ‘family’ of care and guidance. Each House has two dedicated tutors, a Head of House and a Guidance Manager to look after its students, to track their academic progress and to intervene where necessary. Each House has its own room and offices where students are able to go during recreation time to eat their meals, relax and socialise. Tutor Groups are organised in year groups, so ensuring that discussion and communication about academic achievement are focused and timely.

As well as having a key pastoral function, the House system also provides a huge range of competitions such as singing, sporting and debating.

Nurture

“When my sonjoined the Academy, hewas very nervous about

so much change but his fearsquickly disappeared with allthe help and assurance he

received from all the staff and Guidance Managers. He is now

a very confident andmature individual”

Parent

The safety, welfare and happiness of every student is paramount and we employ a wide range of adults in a variety of welfare roles at the Academy. Our Care and Guidance team supports every student, whatever their needs; from one to one help to arranging peer mentoring, each student’s needs are assessed and met on an individual basis.

Student peer mentoring also provides invaluable support. Our Care and Guidance team supports every student at the Academy, whatever their needs.

We also have a number of physical spaces throughout the Academy which can be used to support some of our more vulnerable students. These include a sensory room, a vulnerable student support space, a bespoke ASD learning space, the Alternative Education Centre to name but a few.

“The Academy’soutstanding care andguidance ensures that

individual students feel both supported and challenged”

Sixth Form Student

ValueThe Folkestone Academy is strongly committed to an ethos which values and respects the individual regardless of race, religion, gender or ability. Students with Additional Educational Needs are identified early through rigorous assessment and appropriate provision and support are quickly established to meet their needs.

We aim to prepare our students for a world which is diverse, challenging and unpredictable. We believe that our students need to develop the skills, compassion and thoughtfulness in order to deal with such a world. We are hugely proudof the values that we cherish and how we instil these in our young people.

“Being here at The Academy has made life easier and fun. The Academy supports my dream of being a Poet and

encourages me to do my best. Books are the stepping stones

to imagination”

Year 7 Student

We offer a curriculum that aims to stretch students of all abilities. Our innovative Year 7 curriculum is one of the hallmarks of the Academy. Built upon the Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills approach pioneered by Guy Claxton, two thirds of the students’ time is spent with the same member of staff, following a thematic approach to learning with an emphasis upon both content and skills.

At the end of Year 8 students are well equipped to choose their GCSE and BTEC options, following this most choose to remain in our Sixth Form and study from the broad range of academic and vocational courses available.

Learn

“There are goodopportunities for

students to contributeto the Academy andthe local community”

Ofsted, 2010

ExperienceThe Folkestone Academy is at the heart of its local community.Building on Folkestone’s tradition of tourism and hospitality, we have a professional student run restaurant and hair and beauty salon - both of which are open to the public.

Our facilities are the venue of choice for many local sports and community groups and, wherever possible, we look to involve our students in as many opportunities as possible.

Through a range of partnerships we look to create exciting learning opportunities for our students. Ranging from Folkestone Rugby Academy managing a Primary School Tag Rugby competition to Sixth Form Textiles students designing and making costumes worn during the Olympic medal ceremony.

“In the Extension timeI did the production

Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.

I sung in front of thewhole of Year 7”

Year 7 Student

GainThe Academy offers a rich programme of Extension activities at the end of the Academy day for every student. As well as a diverse range of sporting activities, other options include, hair and beauty, film club, radio broadcasting, music groups, drama, chess and a variety of other leisure activities.

This time will sometimes be used to offer intervention and support when additional help is required to ensure student’s progress in core subjects. When this does happen we will always ensure the student has a balanced range of activities so that academic work is complemented by the full range of other activities.

Progress

“I really enjoy being part of the Academy, teachers

inspire us to do thebest we can”

Sixth Form Student

As our students choose their Key Stage 4 options at the end of Year 8, they can aim to complete most of their courses by the end of Year 10 and so spend Year 11 ensuring they have the best grades in core subjects while developing their interest in the more specialised subjects that they may wish to follow in the Sixth Form at Key Stage 5.

Our Sixth Form offers a wide range of vocational and academic courses. Our strong partnership with the University of Kent offers a number of scholarships to those students who wish to move to higher education. Some of our courses may also be provided as part of formal apprenticeships in partnership with national training providers and local employers.

Trust

The Board of Trustees and our team of staff share the same high aims for the Academy and our students. We are committed to broadening their horizons, inspiring a love of learning and enabling all our young people to achieve their full potential. We aim to motivate them to see the exciting possibilities ahead of them in the world of work and higher education as they develop into citizens of the future.

“I feel like part ofa thriving team and

a community belongingto the Academy,I relish coming toschool every day”

Head Boy

This Prospectus is for information purposes only.

Further school information and full school policies can be found on our website at www.folkestoneacademy.comFA Aug 2012

The Academy is included within the co-ordinated admissions arrangements operated by Kent County Council which manages the transfer of students from Primary schools into the Academy along with admissions into all other Secondary schools. Further details are to be found in the Secondary Admissions Booklet available from Kent County Council, Secondary Admissions, Room 224 Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ or online at www.kent.gov.uk

The Folkestone Academy

Academy LaneFolkestone

Kent CT19 5FP

Tel: 01303 842400Fax: 01303 842417

Email: admin@folkestoneacademy.comWeb: www.folkestoneacademy.com