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Churchill Academy & Sixth Form

Academy News

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  • Canopy Music Festival 2026

    Published 01/07/26

    Our Music Department hosted the 2026 Academy Music Festival this week, bringing together students and staff for three days of outstanding musical performances.

    The festival showcased an incredible range of talent, with performances from student bands, including an impressive metal rock performance, our Junior Choir, Song Club, Soul Band, and several outstanding solo performers. There was even a special appearance from the staff band, which remains a student favourite.

    We couldn't be prouder of every student who took to the stage this week. It takes an incredible amount of hard work, dedication, and team effort from both students and staff to create such a fantastic festival.

    It has also been wonderful to see so many students supporting one another; this week saw our biggest audiences yet. Well done to everyone involved; we can't wait to see what next year's festival has in store!

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  • MFL Explore French & Spanish Cuisine

    Published 01/07/26

    Our Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Department celebrated the end of term with a special cookery lesson, giving students the chance to experience the flavours of France and Spain.

    Our French students mastered the art of the Parisian crêpe, showing off their impressive pancake-flipping skills before filling their creations with delicious strawberries and chocolate.

    Meanwhile, our Spanish students took a savoury approach, preparing homemade meatballs and a traditional Spanish sauce from scratch. The Food Technology department has never smelt so delicious!

    It was a fantastic way to celebrate the end of term while bringing language learning to life through food and culture.

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  • Author Cathy Faulkner Inspires Book Club

    Published 01/07/26

    Last week, our Book Group enjoyed a fantastic visit from author Cathy Faulkner. Cathy shared fascinating insights into her writing journey, from finding inspiration and carrying out historical research to the challenges of getting published. She is the author of two acclaimed historical verse novels, The Treasure Seekers and Digging for Victory.

    A special congratulations to Callie in Year 9, who was selected to sit in the Golden Ticket seat and won copies of both of Cathy's books.

    The Book Group also celebrated the announcement of the 2026 Carnegie Medal for Writing. After reading this year's shortlisted titles over the past few months, students voted The Boy I Love by William Hussey as their favourite. They were also delighted to see Wolf Siren by Beth O'Brien named the overall winner by both the student shadowing groups and the judging panel.

    Wolf Siren is a magical retelling of the classic Little Red Riding Hood story, told through the eyes of a partially sighted protagonist. Students who would like to explore this year's shortlisted books can find out more on the Carnegie Shadowing website here.

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  • Rising Basketball Star: Noah

    Published 01/07/26

    Congratulations to Noah, who proudly represented Wales U14 Boys at the Home Nations Basketball Tournament in Cardiff.

    This marks Noah's first national team call-up, a fantastic achievement and a testament to his hard work, dedication, and commitment to the sport. We are incredibly proud of everything he has accomplished and look forward to seeing what he achieves next. Well done, Noah!

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  • Libra Club’s Pride Party

    Published 01/07/26

    This Monday, Libra Club celebrated Pride Month by having a party with rainbow themed cake, treats and games. They hosted a Pride flag scavenger hunt in which students had to find objects for each colour of the Pride flag. 

    Thank you to all who have attended Libra Club this year and helped build such a lovely, welcoming atmosphere. 

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  • Academy Sports Rundown: 26th June 2026

    Published 26/06/26

    It was a reduced week of sport at the Academy as the heatwave closed schools across the country and cancelled any planned fixtures later in the week. However, our Cricket team managed to continue their cup run before the conditions got too hot. Check out how they got on below:

    U15 Girls Cricket Team Crowned County Champions 

    Our U15 Girls Cricket team remains undefeated in their incredible Knight-Stokes Cup run. The girls took part in the County Finals this week, facing their toughest team yet - they were unstoppable once again, with a score of 147 for 3 to Churchill and Castle 138 for 6, meaning Churchill have gone on to be crowned the County Champions! 

    The team now progresses to the National Rounds, where they will face the top U15 Girls teams in the country. With just two games to go until the National Finals at Lord's, we couldn’t be prouder of our students.  

    Good luck, everybody here at the Academy is cheering you on!

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  • Year 7 Induction Day 2026

    Published 26/06/26

    It has been an absolute pleasure welcoming our new Year 7 students to the Academy for their induction day this week. The students made a fantastic impression. In tricky conditions with the heat, they were polite, kind, enthusiastic, and eager to dive into life at Churchill.

    The day started with an assembly by Mr Hildrew, followed by meeting their new tutors and tutor groups, before having a tour of the Academy.  Students then had the chance to choreograph in their Dance lessons, be inspired in Art, design paper fans in Design & Technology, and learn some key phrases in a new language, courtesy of our Year 8 Language Leaders, before heading out for lunch.

    Our PE department put on some excellent field games over lunchtime, gearing them up for a fun afternoon of Science, Geography and English. 

    We can't wait to welcome this wonderful group of students into the Academy in September! 

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  • Song Club Opens the WEMA Young Musicians’ Showcase

    Published 26/06/26

    Fourteen members of Song Club performed at St George's in Bristol on Tuesday evening, opening the WEMA Young Musicians' Showcase Concert. They sang Driver's Licence by Olivia Rodrigo and Hit the Road Jack by Ray Charles, receiving enthusiastic applause from both the audience and the organisers.

    There was even time for a visit to the ice cream van between our sound check and the concert to help students cool down! 

    We also enjoyed watching the other performers, who were mostly solo instrumentalists. The only other choir, from Hayesfield in Bath, performed Consider Yourself from Oliver!, a performance that got several of our members excited for next year's Key Stage 3 musical.

    It was a fantastic evening, and we can’t wait to see our students' next performance. Well done!

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  • Our Dance Star's of the Week are Katelyn and Issy

    Published 23/06/26

    Katelyn and Issy are both such an integral part of the Dance Department. Their support for Dance Staff at school events and activities is always highly valued.

    They are both exceptional dancers who achieve the highest standards in their lessons, but alongside this their willingness to help out and extend their own learning is impressive. 

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  • Junior Maths Challenge 2026

    Published 23/06/26

    In April, 95 students in years 7 and 8 sat the Junior Maths Challenge - a national problem solving competition aimed at stretching high attaining mathematicians. 

    Over half of the students who participated scored highly enough to receive a certificate - 8 gold, 19 silver, and 24 bronze - a brilliant achievement!

    Five students - Joseph, Emily, Henry, Lexi and Darius - qualified for the Junior Kangaroo, which is a harder follow-on round for some of the country's gold certificate winners. 

    And finally, Alex, our highest scoring student with a whopping 113 marks, qualified for the Junior Mathematical Olympiad. The Olympiad is sat by only around 1000 students across the UK (less than 1% of the Junior Maths Challenge entrants), and it is the first time in my seven years of running maths challenges at Churchill that a Year 7 or 8 student has qualified! 

    Well done, Alex, and to everybody who took part in this year's competition!

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  • Academy Sports Rundown: 19th June 2026

    Published 19/06/26

    Our Cricket team continued their successful runs this week. Read how they got on below:

    U15 Girls Cricket Team Progresses to Regional Finals

    Our U15 girls' cricket team had another excellent performance this week in the Knight-Stokes Cup Regional Semi-Finals.  Against Hayesfield, it was set to be a tough game however, our students put their all into getting 110 for 4 off over 18 overs, with Hayesfield only managing 36 for 9. 

    The team had a minor interruption when a helicopter landed on the field, providing an adrenaline boost at the end of the game. To celebrate their win, Mr Hayne stopped the coach on the way back to the Academy for an ice cream treat for all the students.  

    Our U15 girls are now just three wins away from Lords, with the Regional finals up next! 

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  • To Lancaster & Back: 364km to go ​​​​​​​

    Published 18/06/26

    Over the past month, Lancaster students have continued with their running and walking challenge, with the aim of travelling the equivalent distance of Churchill Academy to Lancaster (and back again!) - a total distance of 738km. 

    Students have been taking part in the mornings during tutor times, running in school Athletics competitions, and most students did a lot of walking on the sponsored walk and trek last Friday. 

    These contributions have taken our current distance travelled to 374km, with 364km to go. 

    Whilst it is great that we have passed the halfway mark and are now virtually travelling south back towards Churchill Academy, we are running (no pun intended) out of time, so we need your help! If any students, parents or carers linked to Lancaster complete any runs outside of school - either recreationally or as part of an organised event - we would love to add your distance to our Lancaster total! The time doesn't matter, so if you're happy to contribute, just email DAT@churchill-academy.org with the distance covered, or students can tell me at school. 

    Of course, this running challenge is to raise money for our Lancaster House charity - Springboard Opportunity Group - a daycare provider for children with special educational needs and disabilities in North Somerset. The link to donate on our Just Giving page is here,please feel free to share it with family and friends. 

    Thank you,

    Mr Thomas & all of Lancaster House

     

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