Executive Principal's Welcome

The Pingle Academy is the popular local choice for secondary and post 16 education.

The Pingle Academy is committed to providing academic excellence within a caring and inclusive environment. We believe a solid education that develops knowledge and understanding, and allows academic success, is a right and an entitlement. At The Pingle Academy, we are driven to ensure that all the children and young people in our care have the opportunity to fulfil their potential through achieving highly, regardless of their ability or background. In developing our students on their pathway to excellence, we are guided by our simple values statement: ‘Work hard, Be kind, Choose Wisely’. We believe that these values are both central to success within education and key values that allow us to be successful in life. We explicitly teach and promote these values, expecting our students within our academy to show acts of kindness, gratitude, and self-discipline within lessons, during social time, and in their wider community. We support this by upholding the highest of expectations within a warm, strict culture. It is important to us that our students belong, progress, and thrive.

Our academic and rigorous curriculum ensures that students are knowledgeable about the world around them. It prepares them to contribute to their local community and to take their place within a global society. We recognise that to be successful, academic success is important, but it must also be supported by our students leaving our academy as confident, articulate, ambitious lifelong learners. We support this development through a clear approach to developing knowledge. We believe that knowledge is powerful, and we place value on its importance in securing the building blocks that are needed for our students to make sense of concepts. When secure, it allows students to independently make links and connections that deepen their understanding, encourage intellectual curiosity, and develop subject mastery for all students.

Our teaching is direct and explicit. We emphasise the need and ability to retrieve and recall factual information. We develop this by interleaving our curriculum, sequencing lessons, and starting each lesson with a low-stakes quiz. As experts in our field, we signpost the core knowledge that should be retained. We develop this within lessons but also set frequent homework activities that direct students to spend time on learning this critical information. Learning is a skill. We teach students why this is important, show them how to do it effectively in order to achieve their potential, and celebrate their success when this is done well.

One of the key strengths of the academy is the positive relationships between staff and students. We have a friendly, respectful, and harmonious environment. We are truly inclusive, with an Enhanced Resource Centre and SEND structure that supports students of all abilities to be successful. We will not tolerate discrimination of any kind. Within our school community, students and staff are known, valued, developed, and supported to be successful. We believe that every member of our community has the right to feel safe; tolerance, respect, and fairness underpin the fabric of our ethos and are promoted through traditional British values such as treating each other with respect, being courteous, and being polite.

We have a strong commitment to helping and encouraging our students to make a positive contribution to their community. The Pingle Academy is at the heart of the Swadlincote community, and we take every opportunity to be involved in joint events and projects. We have a thriving Sixth Form provision, providing a natural extension for academic success and pathways from KS4 to KS5 that serve our students and the wider community well.

We are proud to have received a good Ofsted inspection in 2021. Highlights include:
 

• ‘You can make really nice memories here.’
• “Leaders are ambitious for all pupils. There is a well-planned curriculum in place in all subjects and for all pupils. Pupils achieve well as a result.”
• “Teaching pupils to keep themselves safe and mentally healthy is at the heart of leaders’ work. Pupils learn how to protect themselves from the dangers of online abuse. They know the importance of healthy relationships. They have someone to talk with if they are anxious.”

Our warm, strict approach is based on high expectations of student behaviour and conduct. Our rules are based on the common-sense principles that form our Code of Conduct. Students wear our uniform with pride and come to the academy ready to learn. We expect parents/carers to support us in upholding our high standards and expectations.

We know that establishing a strong working partnership with you as parents/carers is essential to your child’s success. We hold regular information evenings, and we are always willing to meet with you or contact you via email or telephone if you have any concerns or queries. Through our horizontal tutor group system, your child will, in most cases, have the same tutor throughout their time at the academy. This strong pastoral structure is supported by a non-teaching Assistant Head of Year, a dedicated Head of Year, a Senior Team link, and the wider safeguarding team, with the Assistant Head of Year usually acting as the first point of contact.Thus, whilst academic progress and outcomes matter, we recognise that personal wellbeing, mental health, and personal development are of equal importance. We are invested in this and seek to provide a holistic education that leads to successful, articulate, and confident young people.

Parents and community are important to us. We are open about our vision, our standards, and our expectations because we want a shared understanding about how success can be achieved together. We want you to support our ethos. We aspire to communicate the standards and expectations as one voice. We do this together because we have a shared purpose in securing the best for our students and maximising their potential. We ask them every day to be the “best version of themselves” and stress the importance of this so that they leave us with high standards, continued ambition, and a desire to pursue challenging, fulfilling careers that bring both success and happiness.

We commit to this because it is right, and because we care.

Of course, you cannot really get a true feeling about an academy from a website; you will only get this by coming to see us first-hand. We would urge any prospective parents or carers to come and see us in action and experience what we have to offer. If you would like to do this, please contact the academy reception on 01283 216837 and we will gladly arrange a tour of the academy.

We look forward to meeting you.

Mrs M Oliphant 

Executive Principal