January 2024
Dear MEA Central Families,
Happy New Year! I hope that this letter finds you well and you have enjoyed a restful winter holiday with your loved ones. In the Autumn term, we were proud of the excellent attitude and work ethic of our student cohort and their engagement with our values of Citizenship, Achievement and Participation. I hope you have been finding the weekly newsletter helpful in keeping abreast of all the wonderful activities and events happening across the school.
We return to school tomorrow, 3rd January 2024. Staff are in school today for an INSET day. Spring 1 This term we really sharpen our focus on our value of Achievement. We approach the halfway point of the academic year and will be into the ‘nitty gritty’ of the curriculum. Students should and will find their courses and classes harder this term as they begin to make links to the next phase of their learning and prepare to move up next academic year. We will continue to challenge them to be their best and supporting them to get there.
Attendance
The most important factor in whether students achieved excellent GCSE results in last August was attendance. 86% of MEA Central students with attendance of 96% and above achieved a pass in both GCSE English and Maths in 2022. This is significantly above national and shows that when students attend our school every day, they make excellent progress. We recognise the strong links between attendance and attainment and therefore request that absence is avoided, except in exceptional circumstances. There is lots of support available for parents and carers where there is an attendance concern and if you wish to discuss this support in more detail, please contact your child’s Pastoral Manager.
Arbor Pay and Free School Meals
We are a fully cashless school, and we discourage students from bringing cash to school. All catering, trips and other payments to school are made through Arbor. You should check your child’s account regularly and ensure that school lunch money is kept in credit. More information about Arbor can be found here: https://www.meacentral.org.uk/studentsandparents/arbor-app If you require your Arbor log on details, please contact the school office. We always encourage parents to regularly check their eligibility for Free School Meals using the simple FSM checker. This can be accessed here
Uniform and Equipment
Please ensure your child is wearing fully equipped and in perfect school uniform, including school blazer. These are checked daily by form tutors. We expect all students have a pencil case, along with their planner and Knowledge Organiser files. Uniform expectations are: ▪ no make up ▪ shoes not trainers ▪ a school bag – not a handbag - with a pencil case, large enough to fit PE Kit and A4 books in ▪ Last term, we also reminded students that hooded/branded sports jumpers worn in place of a coat was not acceptable. These will be confiscated and returned at the end of the week. Please ensure your child has a suitable outdoor coat, as we make use of our outdoor spaces during social times. ▪ a coat for wet weather ▪ Piercings are not allowed at MEA Central. Students may not use plasters to cover new piercings and they will be asked to remove them prior to entering lessons which will be available to collect at the end of the week. Please ensure that your child has removed all new and existing piercings before arriving to school. ▪ For safeguarding reasons, we ask that coats are not worn in the school building, so that we can quickly identify students in uniform. ▪ We operate a uniform lending facility and will lend appropriate uniform to any student who is not wearing full uniform in line with our expectations. If you require any support with uniform, then please contact the school this week.
Finally, a reminder if you would like to discuss any additional support or concerns you can contact the pastoral team for your child below.
Please note that we said goodbye to pastoral managers Ms Ahmed and Ms Naseer last term. Ms Thompson has moved to support Year 11 for their final full term at MEA Central. Ms Costello joins the Year 10 team.
Kind regards,
Emily Reynard