Newsletters

Our most recent school newsletter is below. Previous letters are available to read by downloading them at the bottom of the page:

18th December 2026

Dear Parents and Carers

Thank you for all of your support this term. It has been a long and successful one for all of us here at Rockwood Academy. Before I share some highlights of the term, I would like to wish everyone a good Christmas break and remind you that school will re-open for all pupils at 8.40am on Tuesday 6th January 2026.

We have had much to celebrate this year, including:
Rockwood Citizen Rewards Evening
At the end of this term, we have held a successful event where we invited a select group of pupils and parents to celebrate their positive behaviour and attendance in school. We are committed to excellent standards of personal effort and behaviour and this starts with strong attendance to school.
Combined Cadet Force (CCF)
Our Cadets have had a great year, many have completed Syllabus Star Level Tests. We have had 2 week long camps, the first being at Feb half term at the Altcar Training Camp in Liverpool, then the Summer Camp at Bramcote Cadet Training Centre in Nuneaton and weekend camps in both areas.

Half Term Camp: was Syllabus Training where the cadets were taught Fieldcraft, Skill At Arms completing their Weapons Handling Tests and Shooting Test.
Summers Camp: was Adventurous Training based where we went to Thorpe Park, Spring Lakes AT Centre where they did water sports, raft building and an inflatable obstacle course on the water, as well as days out at Warwick and Stratford visiting Historical Locations.
Most weekend Training: was Navigation and Expedition Training, where the Cadets as a team require navigating themselves in an array of different terrains from urban to rural areas. We are looking forward to the next year with similar training possibly at different venues. Combined Cadet Force (CCF) visit to Altcar Training Camp, Merseyside.
This was a fantastic opportunity attended by all of our CCF cadets.
Activities included training on the cadet rifles, first aid training, weapons handling tests conducted.
Goldman Sachs Future Skills Workshop
Students studying in Year 10 courses for Business, Computer Science, and Digital IT attended a future skills workshop at the Goldman Sachs office in Birmingham. They were given an overview of the types of careers available at Goldman Sachs, and employees talked about their career journeys. Afterwards, they had lessons in career skills such as CV writing and interview techniques to prepare them for the world of work. They found the day enlightening and left with a better idea of the types of skills needed for employment in
adult life.
This Terms Rewards Window Winners
As usual this term, we have rewarded a great number of pupils for excellent effort and attendance. The top pupils in each year group received an afternoon of Hot Chocolate, Cake and Cookies as a reward for all that they did so well this term. More pupils will have an opportunity to receive a reward in our different Rewards Windows during the year.
Below are the names of all pupils who were successful. We are so proud of all they have done.

Finally, please do have a good break and we look forward to seeing you again on Tuesday 6th January 2026 at 8.40am for all year groups.

Best wishes,

Mr R Reeve
Headteacher

24th October 2025

Dear Parents and Carers

We are now at the end of the longest half-term (8 weeks) and pupils and staff deserve a well-earned rest. It has been a successful half-term for us. Below are some key pieces of information from the start to the year.
Our 2025-26 School Improvement Priorities
This academic year we are focusing on improving the school in 4 priority areas:

Improving Attendance
Improving teaching for our target group, especially pupils with SEND
Improving our use of Assessment
Improving Parental and Community Engagement
Number 4 is vital for us to keep improving as a school. We do feel that we need to develop stronger links with our families and I would encourage you to attend all parent evenings and other events. We are planning a series of Connect parent workshops this year designed to build links between home and school, these include:

Supporting your child’s mental health
Supporting your child to revise
Keeping your child safe online
Improving literacy
Understanding autism
Connecting with Alum Rock
Local Governing Board (LGB)
This week we held our first LGB meeting of the year with some new members of the Board. The LGB advises the Senior Leadership Team on all aspects of school life and support leaders in this way. The members are:
Mr Ziarab Yasin (Chair)
Mr Mohammed Ali
Mr Dean Brittle
Mr Richard Reeve (Headteacher)
We do need Parent members of the LGB. If you are interested in joining the board, can you please contact me at [email protected]

Year 7 Residential – Condover Hall
Our Year 7 students recently enjoyed an unforgettable residential trip to Condover Hall in Shrewsbury, taking part in a range of exciting outdoor adventure activities. From high ropes in the trees, abseiling and raft building, to archery and team-building challenges, the students showed tremendous enthusiasm, courage, and teamwork throughout.
The trip provided a wonderful opportunity for our new Year 7 cohort to build positive relationships with one another and with the staff who accompanied them. It was fantastic to see so many students step out of their comfort zones, face new challenges, and discover strengths they didn’t know they had. At Rockwood Academy, we believe experiences like this help our students to grow in confidence, independence and resilience. These are essential qualities that will support them both in and beyond the classroom. We are
incredibly proud of how they represented our school and embraced every challenge with energy and positivity.

Toilets
A few parents have asked us about toilet provision at Rockwood and so I felt it important to write a short piece here.
Toilets are available throughout the day for all pupils. We do discourage pupils from going during lesson-time so that pupils maximise their learning time. The longest period in lessons without a break for any pupil is 2 hours (with a lesson changeover in the middle). Earlier this term we were operating a system where pupils who needed to leave lesson to visit the toilet were escorted by a member of staff. From this half-term, pupils in need of the toilet will go unescorted as a measure of trust that they will return to lesson quickly.
I am sure all parents and carers appreciate that time in lesson is vitally important and should be disturbed rarely.

Rockwood Champions
Congratulations to the following students as they have been nominated the Top-5 Home Learning champions, due to their engagement and completion of online home learning tasks:
1st place: Humaira Rayaz Year 10
2nd place: Muhammad Faizan Ali Year 7
3rd place: Sumaiya Ali Year 8
4th place: Aisha Syed Year 11
5th place: Suraiya Ahmed Year 8

Rockwood – Senior Students
We are delighted to announce that the following students were appointed to form the Rockwood Student Leadership Team:
Hasher Rafiq- 11C – Head Boy
Imaan Babar- 11F – Head Girl
Maira Iqra Nissarit- 11C – Deputy Head Girl
Raihan Malik- 11C – Deputy Head Boy
Isha Jahan- 11E – Senior prefect
Yasin Khan – 11B – Senior prefect
Mariam Noori- 11D – Senior prefect
Farwa Arif – 11G – Senior prefect
Saffa Raja- 11D – Senior prefect

Happy Half-Term
We wish everyone a restful half-term break. Please stay safe during Halloween and Bonfire Night celebrations, keeping in mind that children allowed to be out at night are at a much higher risk at this time of the year, with firework accidents leading to a surge in preventable injuries and trips to hospital. Please read the letter from West Midlands Police for further information about this and checking your child’s security settings on their
devices. This letter can be found on our website under Parents and Carers/Letters.

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely
Mr R Reeve
Headteacher