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A Message from Principal, Mr Martin

It’s been a busy and exciting month across the academy, full of enrichment opportunities, celebration, and achievement.

Our Geography students enjoyed a fantastic trip to Walton-on-the-Naze, where they got hands-on experience with coastal studies. Meanwhile, our Silver Duke of Edinburgh participants showed real determination and teamwork during their week-long expedition. Well done to all involved!

Community spirit has been shining brightly, with various students spending time with residents at Oak Manor Care Home, with our historians sharing stories and learning from each other, and our music students singing with the residents. We value our relationship with the Care Home and look forward to more visits next academic year.

We held our Year 11 Prom on Wednesday at The Marquee in Bedford. The evening gave students an opportunity to celebrate the end of their exams and provided them with a well-deserved evening of fun and reflection. Students arrived in style with tractors, lorries and limos and had a brilliant evening.

The BEST Summer Arts Festival brought creativity to the forefront, showcasing our talented students within the trust across music, art, dance, and drama. It was fantastic to see students across all ages demonstrating their talents. Thank you to all the staff and students involved. We were also thrilled to welcome BAFTA winner Hayder Rothschild Hoozeer, who inspired our Film and Media students with stories from the industry and excellent advice on pursuing creative careers.

With both the GCSE and A Level exam season now behind us, I’d like to take a moment to express our pride in the resilience and effort shown by all our students throughout this busy term.

With only a few weeks left of the summer term, there is still much to look forward to!

Messages From Heads of Year

Year 10, Mrs Godfrey

As we head towards the end of Year 10, I want to thank you for your continued support. The students have come a long way and are well on their way to Year 11.

We’ve still got a few key dates before the term ends - Year 10 Mock Interviews on July 7th, which are a great chance for students to experience what a real interview feels like, and our Year 10 Sports Day on July 8th, which is a fantastic opportunity for students to get involved and show some team spirit.

I am looking forward to finishing the year on a high!

Year 11, Mr Rich

My sincerest congratulations to all of Year 11, for mustering the strength, keeping on driving, and swimming through the exam season! You have shown resilience, responsibility, and respect, a testament to yourselves and the school. It is, however, reluctantly a time for farewells, whether at prom or through the sunny summer. It is a time to reflect on the highs of your school experience and the lessons we can learn. You have all grown so much since our time on the courts in the rain, wearing rucksacks twice the size of yourselves! Many of you will return to SWA in Sixth Form, but to all, please remember our emails are still open for advice or even a rant!

I leave you with this: that life is a multitude of beginnings and endings, a winding path of choices, but we must never lose our sense of excitement, for the new and the intriguing and the unknown. I wish you all luck, stay golden, and now more than ever: “The game is afoot!” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Academy News

Year 11 Prom: An Evening to Remember

An evening of dancing, celebration and style!

C lick here to read more

Year 12 Biology Students Contribute to Re-wilding Project

Our Year 12 Biology students had a fantastic week getting hands-on with real-world science at the Southill Estate.

Click here to read more

From Our Classrooms to Published Author!

We are incredibly proud to announce the debut novel from one of our talented former students, Vicki Bolland!

Click here to read more

Building Bridges Across Generations

SWA students have been making incredible connections with residents of Oak Manor care home.

Click here to read more

Celebrating Creativity at the BEST Summer Arts Festival

The Academy came alive with colour, music, and community spirit as we hosted the BEST Summer Arts Festival.

Click here to read more

Sixth Form
Induction Day 2025

Get ready, future SWA Sixth Formers! Our Sixth Form Induction Day is happening on Monday, June 30th. It's going to be a fantastic day designed to give you a real taste of life here, from our vibrant community to academic expectations.

We can't wait to welcome you!

Behaviour System Update – Launching June 30th

As part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining a positive and productive learning environment, we’re introducing a few key updates to our behaviour system, shared with Year 9 and 10 students in an assembly this week.

These changes are designed to strengthen the link between actions and consequences and support the high standards we’re proud to uphold at Samuel Whitbread Academy.

What’s Changing?

Same-Day After-School Detentions

From Monday, June 30th, students may receive a same-day detention for:

Truancy from lessons.
Mobile phone-related incidents.
Missing a previously scheduled detention.
Multiple B3 behaviour logs in one day.

These changes address behaviours that can significantly disrupt learning, even though they are rare.

Detention Schedule & Transport

Detentions will run from Monday to Friday.
A late bus service will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays only.
Same-day detentions on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday will be used for more serious or repeated issues.
First-time or lower-level issues will continue to be scheduled for Tuesdays or Thursdays to support transport needs.

We’re proud of the overwhelmingly positive attitude of our students and believe these updates will further enhance our school culture. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Mr O'Rourke