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Welcome to the next issue of my Principal’s blog. It has been a very exciting and busy couple of weeks for team TAL! Site meetings, visits to primary schools and putting together the plans for student and staff induction. Thank you for your continued positivity and support for our school, we cannot wait to see you all soon.
Get Involved!
We are excited to launch our co-curricular programme, Involve! Every Tuesday and Wednesday at TAL we have an extended academy day where every single one of our students will take part in two clubs per week aimed at enriching and broadening their knowledge, skills, and experience. We have listened carefully to the feedback from your ‘All About Me’ forms and we are delighted to be able to offer you such a wide range of exciting opportunities. You will get to choose your first Involve clubs during TAL Induction Camp, meanwhile, keep following us on social media for all the details!
Music Tuition
We are delighted to be able to offer music tuition free of charge to every TAL student. Our newly appointed Curriculum Tutor of Music, (MOBO nominee no less), Mr Johnson, cannot wait to start working with you. If you have not done so already, please let us know if you are interested in continuing or beginning tuition in the following areas: voice, drums, guitar, keyboard. Mr Johnson and Miss Scantlebury will also be running a range of exciting Arts clubs including, TAL Choir, TAL Orchestra, No Limits Drama Club, and the ‘T’ Team (technical theatre training). Do not forget that you can also opt in to join LAPA, our Performing Arts group, that runs every Thursday 2.50-4.50 p.m. which will cover all aspects of musical theatre.
Induction
As a new academy, we will have to do induction days a little differently this year! We will be inviting all parents to our first ever Induction Day to meet with Form Tutors and hear important information about our academy as soon as our building has been completed! You will be contacted with an option to choose a time that best suits you, but please make a note in your diary for Thursday 2nd September. Our students will also take part in TAL Induction Camp on Friday 3rd, Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th September where they will have lots of time to meet with their teachers and fellow students and get used to all things TAL. We will continue to send out key information to our families, and we are currently trying to secure funding for some summer transition activities, lots more to follow!
Mr Weston’s Challenge winners!
Mr Weston was blown away by the quality of the entries into his Maths challenge. He was so impressed that he has decided to award everyone who entered with a special Maths related prize that will be posted to your home address over the next couple of weeks. Send us a picture of you receiving your prize, we would love to see your reaction!
Our best TAL challenge yet!
In this issue, we are setting a very special challenge indeed, Mr Trail has set up an opportunity for a small group of our founding students to visit the site and see first-hand your school being built from the ground up! All health and safety regulations will be strictly followed, and we can only offer this opportunity to five of you, so I am hoping that the competition will be fierce! Our deadline for entries is Monday 7th June.
Your challenge is to create a scientific model that will help explain a fascinating part of science. You could model the human heart from biology, an atom from chemistry or the solar system from physics. You could even choose your own concept. Your model can be 3D or 2D the choice is yours!
Spotlight on…
I’m really pleased to introduce some more talented and dedicated members of our founding TAL team…
Mrs Kolota | Curriculum Leader EAL
I am extremely excited to be joining Trinity Academy Leeds in September! I am certain it is going to be a very rewarding journey, both, for the wonderful students and amazing teachers!
My role as EAL Curriculum Lead is to ensure that every classroom is enriched thanks to ample opportunities for diverse voices to be shared, heard and celebrated. I am passionate about supporting monolingual and multilingual students so they can further develop their linguistic skills and be successful in all aspects of their school life. I can’t wait to meet the fantastic Y7 students and find out more about their cultures, values, beliefs and I also hope to learn some new phrases in different languages!
In my spare time, I love hiking in the Peak District and discovering new places no matter how big or small, near or far. I was born and raised in Poland but Leeds has been my home for over 10 years. I studied English Philology and completed my master’s degree in English Literature at Hull University. I love reading and there always seems to be at least 10 books on my bedside table!
September can’t come soon enough for me! I am looking forward to the autumn term and starting a brand new adventure!
Many thanks,
Mrs Kolota
Miss Kay | Humanities Teacher
I feel exceptionally privileged to be joining the founding cohort at Trinity Academy Leeds in September as a Humanities teacher. I am excited for our students to learn all about the amazing world that we live in through our great History and Geography curriculum. I am also very excited about the huge array of extracurricular activities that all of our students can enjoy!
I am originally from Scotland where I have played hockey; lacrosse and badminton all at a very competitive level throughout my time at high school and when I attended the University of St Andrews. When I am not out on a sports field I can be found reading books or baking.
Many thanks,
Miss Kay
John Fielding | Governor
I have worked in the public transport sector for over 25 years, starting my career as a bus driver before being promoted to staff manager and deputy of operations manager. In 2015 I decided to return to education and enrolled at Leeds University on a business management degree course. Initially, I found the return to education challenging to say the least, however, it did open my eyes and gave me renewed faith in myself and what I could achieve if I worked hard.
I have a daughter who is 11 years old, she is hoping to become one of the first students at Trinity MAT Leeds, as a family we enjoy cycling, walking the dogs and camping in Cornwall.
Another area of interest to me is health and wellbeing especially in this current climate with the pandemic, I am a keen runner, I have been running for about five years, during that time I have dipped my toe into duathlons and even a triathlon! I really enjoy multi-discipline sports; They offer different challenges but are fun to take part in, I am proof that if I can do it then anyone can. I am a licensed Leader in Running Fitness with England Athletics; I also hold qualifications in Mental Wellbeing in Sport & Physical Activity and in Safeguarding in Athletics. I run my own beginners running club based at Leeds Dock, it has been inspiring to see so many people.
I am very excited to be given the opportunity to be a founding governor at Trinity MAT Leeds, I am a little bit out of my comfort zone but really looking forward to the role ensuring that the young people at the school receive the very best support and education which inspires them to #Reach Higher #See Further #Shine Brighter.
Many thanks,
John Fielding
Thank you for reading my 11th blog!
Many thanks,
Kat Cafferky