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Thetford Academy is a large school with a ‘small-school’ ethos where each child is supported and valued as an individual. Your child will begin to get to know our staff during their time in Year 6, with regular visits to their primary school and the opportunity to meet their form tutor before they arrive at the school. This culminates in our week-long induction where Year 6 students attend Thetford Academy for a week in July, with fun activities in music, dance, cooking, sports and a range of academic subjects. Once your child starts at Thetford Academy, you will be invited to a ‘settling in’ evening at the school in September where you can talk to staff about your child’s rst few weeks in the school. Thetford Academy is an increasingly popular choice for parents in the wider area. Potential parents are encouraged to visit the school for a tour with the Principal or another senior member of staff.
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Curriculum Students at Thetford Academy study a rich curriculum covering a range of academic disciplines, creative and performing arts, and technical and vocational subjects. All of these subjects are taught by our knowledgeable and enthusiastic teachers who work hard to bring their subject to life. In Years 7, 8 and 9, students study Art, Computing, Drama, English, Food, Geography, History, Maths, Music, Physical Education. Religious Education, Science and Technology. When you make your application, you will be given the option to choose between studying French or Spanish. In Years 10 and 11, all students study Maths, English, Science and Physical Education. In addition, students select four subjects from a wide set of options, including Art, Business Studies, Computer Science, Dance, Design Technology, Drama, Engineering, Geography, Health & Social Care, History, Hospitality & Catering, Music, Photography, Psychology, Religious Education, Sport Science and Sociology. French and Spanish are options, and we also offer “Spanish for Portuguese Speakers”. The Thomas Paine Sixth Form offers an impressive range of quali cations for students in Years 12 and 13. Please see p.15 of this prospectus for more information. Relationships and Sex Education is taught to all year groups in an age-sensitive manner through a combination of drop-down days, tutor time sessions and assemblies. Where students show a particular talent for a subject, we provide additional tuition and opportunities to enable them to study the subject to the highest of levels, including the chance to participate in wider programmes such as the Brilliant Club. Triple Science and Further Maths quali cations are offered to our most able students. We also provide extensive support for students who need to catch up, including one-to-one literacy tuition with our full-time literacy teachers.
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Support Students at Thetford Academy receive excellent support during their time in the school. Before they even arrive at the school, students will get the chance to know their form tutor, their Head of Year and their Parent Liaison Officer (PLO). These people are available to support students throughout the school day, especially at break time and lunch time, and can help with any concerns students have, whether it be a friendship issue, a problem with homework or a question about an extra-curricular club. Your Parent Liaison Officer is a full-time member of the support staff and will be your rst port of call should you need to contact the school. If your child has a Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND) then you will have the opportunity during the application process to meet with a member of our SEND team to discuss the needs of your child and any adaptation the school needs to make. The school offers a wide range of interventions to support students with a SEND, and this provision is reviewed with parents on a regular basis. Our uniform is smart and we want our students to take pride in their appearance. Our uniform is not gender-speci c and students have the opportunity to add badges re ecting their participation and achievement in the school. The school has a stringent safeguarding policy to ensure that every child is safe and protected from harm. This policy gives clear direction to staff, volunteers, visitors, and parents and carers about expected behaviour, and our legal responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all students. Thetford Academy is a diverse community and we welcome students from a wide range of backgrounds. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination and we will challenge all forms of prejudice. Similarly, we do not tolerate any form of sexual harassment and we work hard to educate our students about age-appropriate and consensual relationships.
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Extra-Curricular Extra-curricular activities are a key part of life at Thetford Academy and, through our Enrichment programme, all students participate in clubs. Our sporting facilities at Thetford are some of the best in the region, with large playing elds, a sports hall, a well-equipped tness suite, tennis courts and a playground. In addition to their PE lessons, all students can choose to participate in sports clubs, including football, rugby, netball, basketball, table tennis and more. Performing arts provision is very strong at Thetford Academy. In addition to curriculum lessons, all students have the opportunity to join performing arts clubs including choirs, bands, instrumental groups, cheerleading, dance and school productions. We have close links with the Thetford Music Project, and have a programme of Visiting Music Teachers (VMTs) offering individual and small-group tuition in a range of instruments at a signi cantly subsidised rate. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is active and popular at Thetford Academy, and we offer students the opportunity to complete the award at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels during their time at the school. Training and expeditions are run in-house and led by our experienced and dedicated staff with a passion for outdoor pursuits. In addition to sports and performing arts, the school offers a wide array of hobbies including archaeology, bike maintenance, chess, climate, gardening, knitting, journalism, mindfulness, photography, sign language, survival skills and tabletop gaming. There is a club that will be of interest to everyone.
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Careers As students progress through the school they receive a great deal of advice and guidance about their developing plans for the future, and as a school we are fully compliant with the national Gatsby Benchmarks for careers education. Thetford Academy has a dedicated careers advisor who is on hand to meet with students to discuss future programmes of study and routes into employment. Work experience is available for students in Year 10 and in the Sixth Form. We regularly host events in school focused on different career routes, including our annual careers fair where national and regional employers and training providers attend the school to talk in person with students about what possibilities exist. In Year 10, all students have additional sessions where they hear from a variety of guest speakers who have worked in different sectors, as well as learning how to manage their nances and to look after themselves once they have left home.
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The Thomas Paine Sixth Form The Thomas Paine Sixth Form is Thetford’s post-16 provision providing a range of courses and quali cations for students from Thetford Academy and other local secondary schools. We offer a diverse range of quali cations. A distinctive feature of our Sixth Form is our leadership programme. All students in the Thomas Paine Sixth Form follow a dedicated programme led by a specialist member of staff focussed on becoming a future leader in the elds of Business, Community, Creative Arts, Sport and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Their chosen programme includes additional quali cations and opportunities for work experience and networking in their sector. Students from our Sixth Form have gone on to high-quality university courses including recent successes at Russell Groups universities such as Cambridge, Manchester and York. We have excellent links with local universities including the University of East Anglia, Norwich University of the Arts and Anglia Ruskin University. For those students who do not go on to university, we support them with applications to high-quality apprenticeships and employment. The social life of our Sixth Form students is vibrant and, in addition to the opportunity to participate or lead in whole-school extra-curricular activities, they also have their own clubs and social events held throughout the year. The Thomas Paine Sixth Form has its own dedicated facilities including a café, common room and independent study room.
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