Key information

No specific updates this week

Thank you to all the parents and students who attended our Year 8 Pathways Evening. We hope that it was informative. If you were unable to attend or would like to read back over the presentation from yesterday, please find a link to it below. 

We are sending the final Year 8 Pathways letter, with links to the information booklet (containing both written details about each course and a video to watch), the submission form and the feedback form out today via MCAS. Please can we ask that all subject choices for Year 9 are submitted by Monday 28^th April. Once submissions are completed we would very much appreciate if you could fill in our quick feedback form to enable us to ensure our Pathways process is the best it can be for future years. Thank you.

Year 8 Pathways Information Evening Presentation 

Feedback form for the overall Year 8 Pathways process

Thank you for all your support in helping our students make their informed choices regarding what they would like to study in Years 10 and 11. We have now received almost all of our students' selections and busy in the complex process of endeavouring to successfully timetable as many of these first choices as possible.  

Please note that, over the next few weeks, we will be making contact with parents of the few students (and the students themselves) that, for a number of reasons, have not yet managed to submit their choices in order to offer further assistance.

 No specific updates this week

Year 11 exams begin in earnest next term, with many exams happening prior to the May half term. During Term 5, students will be expected to attend school on a daily basis as usual, as is the legal requirement. This is so that we are able to best support students in class in the lead up to each exam.  However, we have taken the decision that, at the end of Term 5 (Friday 23^rd May), Year 11 students then go on study leave. 

If individual students wish to still come into school to revise after half term, we will be putting provision in place for this to be possible. We will also be running some targeted revision sessions after half term which students will be expected to attend (either in person or online). Further details of these will be shared next term, but we would appreciate parents supporting us to ensure students do attend these, as they are crucial opportunities to help students with their final preparations for their imminent exams. 

As we are drawing to the end of the school year for Year 11, if your child has not yet had a 1-2-1 careers advisor appointment with Mrs Dimbylow and you feel that this would be beneficial for them, please can you complete the MS Form to provide us with the details.  Mrs Dimbylow is able to arrange phone calls with parents as an alternative if this would be more useful.

For all Year 11 students who have applied to join King Alfred’s Sixth Form, we will be holding our Sixth Form Induction Days on Tuesday 1^st and Wednesday 2^nd July 2025.

In the lead up to exams please find the updated King Alfred's Academy Exams page -King Alfred's Academy - Exams - which has our most up to date information on GCSE exams, regulations and GCSE schedules. QR code to access the website below. 

Please pay particular attention to the 'Candidate Handbook' which lists our expectations and 'what to do' for the upcoming exam season. I would strongly advise all parents of Year 11 to read this in advance of the summer.

Year 11 intended destination data

We have been asked by Oxfordshire County Council to compile data from our Year 11 students on what they are hoping to do from September 2025 after they have completed their GCSEs; this data has to be returned in the first week back after the Easter break.  The students who have not yet provided us with this information have been sent the link to the MS form via E-Praise again as a piece of homework.  On accessing the form, students are asked to input their full name (i.e. first name and surname) and choose one of the options available.  We are asking that they choose their first choice in the best-case scenario i.e. they get the grades that are required.  Please can I ask you to encourage your child to complete this information if they have not already done so. 

No specific updates this week.

We have recently delivered an assembly on exam logistics. To ensure students are as informed as possible, and therefore can remain as calm as possible on the day, it is essential that they are fully aware of all the requirements before they arrive on site for an exam. Please can we request that all parents are aware of the exam requirements as detailed on the Exam pages of our website, and that parents ensure that their child has read the Candidate's Handbook, which is also on our website.