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Dear Leigh Academy Bexley Community,
The sun is shining as we publish our bulletin today, and there is a positive glow over Leigh Academy Bexley; hopefully it will last over the bank holiday weekend. It’s been business as usual this week as the examination season continues, supported by bespoke interventions for our Year 11 students both throughout the school day and on Saturday mornings. Students can also take advantage of supervised revision sessions as part of our support programme; do encourage your children to take advantage of all the opportunities available to them.
Funded by the Jack Petchey Leader Award Grant, our Year 10s took part today in an interactive one-hour workshop led by the professional theatre company, Divergent Drama. This focused on their GCSE text, An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley. More details in our next bulletin.
Enjoy the extended weekend, we return on Tuesday at the normal time as we maintain the momentum into the remainder of module 5.
As always, if we can support you in any way, please contact us via info@bexley.latrust.org.uk, where we will make every endeavour to respond within 24 hours.
Best wishes,
Mr John Dixon | Principal, Leigh Academy Bexley
Humanities: Year 7 History
In History this module, Year 7 are studying the Tudors through the lens of inclusivity.
We are examining how the UK’s cultural landscape was enriched by international connections and marriages during this famous dynasty. By exploring these dynamics, Year 7 is developing a deeper conceptual understanding of how national identity is formed.
It has been fantastic to see the students discover the global stories that helped build our local history. Here are some of their excellent creative examples of Independent Learning, focussing on Tudor Timelines:
Personal Development – Redefining Ambition: Myth vs. Reality
This week’s assemblies at Leigh Academy Bexley focused on the theme “What is an ambitious character?” as part of Module 5’s focus on the value of ‘Ambition’. Led by Miss Mann, Deputy Head of Knole College, the sessions challenged students to redefine ambition beyond traditional stereotypes.
A central part of the assembly was debunking the myth that being ambitious requires being the loudest or toughest person in the room. Instead, students were encouraged to see ambition through the lens of positive character traits, such as being a communicator, reflective, open-minded, and caring.
In anticipation of International Boys’ Day on May 16th 2026, the assembly specifically addressed “positive masculinity”.
Students participated in a “Keep it or Bin it” activity to redefine strength:
- Keep: Being competitive and protecting others, as these fuel positive ambition.
- Bin: Hiding feelings or putting others down to look “Alpha”. These traits were described as “toxic masculinity,” likened to a heavy backpack that prevents someone from reaching their goals.
Ambition Through Inclusion
The academy reinforced its commitment to being an inclusive community where ambition means ensuring that the “Nine Shields”—the protected characteristics such as age, disability, and sex—never limit anyone’s potential. True ambition was defined as having the “strength to respect others” and ensuring everyone can succeed regardless of their gender.
A Call to Action: The Pledge of Ambition
To conclude, students were asked to make a “Pledge of Ambition”. They spent time reflecting on one ambitious action they could take this week to support a peer who might feel different or “othered”. The final message to our young men was that while being a boy is something to be proud of, “having the ambition to be a kind, respectful, and inclusive man is even greater”.
Our year-round assembly programme is purposefully designed to cultivate ‘Reflective’ and ‘Principled’ young people, aligning our school values with the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) framework. By exploring themes like ‘Ambitious Character,’ we move beyond theory and encourage our students to engage in Service as Action. This empowers them to take tangible steps—such as ‘Pledges of Ambition’—to champion inclusion and ensure Leigh Academy Bexley remains a supportive environment where every student can thrive.
Student Voice
Many students from across the year groups have approached Miss Mann to say thank you for the message in assembly this week. One such example, with permission, shared below:
“Miss Mann executed the assembly very well and involved a good amount of engagement with students. I enjoyed the ‘Bin it or Keep it’ game as it was both educational as well as interactive. Alongside that, I noticed other students who do not necessarily like to engage in assemblies playing along themselves.” Amelia T 11K1
Growing Together: Developing Life Skills in Chatsworth SRP
In Chatsworth, our Specialist Resource Provision (SRP), we believe that the best learning often happens when we get our hands a little dirty. Recently, our students have been heading outside to embrace the sunshine and dive into an exciting horticultural project that bridges the gap between the classroom and the real world.
This project is far more than just gardening; it is a carefully designed blend of Science, PSHE, and Life Skills. By nurturing plants from seeds to saplings, our students are exploring:
- Science in Action: Understanding life cycles, the role of pollinators (like those attracted to our “Bee Kind” wildflower mix), and the environmental needs of different species, such as our Lemon Queen and Evening Sun sunflowers.
- Teamwork & Social Skills: Planting requires coordination and communication. Students have worked in pairs and small groups to fill pots, label seedlings, and organise our outdoor space, practicing the art of turn-taking and collaborative problem-solving.
Responsibility & Patience: Caring for living things—both in our outdoor raised beds and our indoor plants (including a very impressive miniature pineapple!)—teaches students the importance of consistency, routine, and the rewarding “slow win” of watching something grow over time.
The students have been busy “nursing” seedlings indoors before transitioning them outdoors and then eventually to our raised beds. This process helps develop fine motor skills through delicate planting and gross motor skills as they navigate the outdoor environment and manage watering schedules. These are essential life skills that build confidence and independence.
🌿 We Need Your Help!
To keep our garden growing and our indoor spaces vibrant, we are always looking for new “green” additions. We warmly welcome donations of:
- Outdoor plants or shrubs for our raised beds.
- Indoor houseplants to help us maintain a calm, oxygen-rich learning environment.
- Large or small pots and gardening tools.
If you have any spare plants or gardening supplies, please feel free to leave them at Reception.
Thank you for your continued support in helping our students flourish!
The Chatsworth Team
NEW INTERVENTION UPDATE
Supporting Our SEND Students
The Link Between Communication and Wellbeing
At our academy, we are committed to understanding the root causes of student challenges to provide the best possible support. Currently, Speech, Language, and Communication Needs (SLCN) represent the second highest area of need across our school.
To meet this need, we have made a significant and unique investment: we commission a specialist Speech and Language Therapist to work on-site two days every week. This dedicated professional support is a cornerstone of our academy, ensuring that our students receive expert intervention that is often difficult to access elsewhere.
Why Focus on Language?
Research shows a powerful link between a student’s ability to communicate and their emotional health. In fact, studies suggest that roughly 81% of young people with emotional and behavioural challenges also have significant language deficits.
Often, these communication difficulties are “hidden” and can be mistaken for frustration or lack of engagement. When a student struggles with language, they often face these specific challenges:
- Emotional Regulation: If a student lacks the vocabulary to label a feeling, it is much harder for them to manage it.
- Social Interaction: Difficulty understanding “unspoken” social rules or “reading between the lines” (inference) can lead to social conflict or anxiety.
- Behaviour as Communication: When a student cannot express their needs or misunderstandings, they may show distress through their behaviour.
The LFBE Intervention
Supported by our Speech and Language Therapist, we are delivering an adapted intervention called Language for Behaviour and Emotion (LFBE). This program is specifically designed for students whose emotional or behavioural challenges stem from underlying communication needs.
The program works in small, strategic groups over 12 sessions, focusing on five key areas:
- Emotional Literacy: Building a vocabulary to recognise and name emotions.
- Understanding Language: Helping students follow instructions and process complex information.
- Inference & Reasoning: Teaching students to understand social cues and others’ perspectives.
- Narrative Skills: Helping students explain events clearly so they can share their side of a story.
- Social Problem-Solving: Guiding students to find positive solutions to conflicts.
Our Commitment
We believe that by investing in specialist speech and language support, we are giving our students the essential tools they need to self-regulate, build positive relationships, and succeed throughout their time at the academy.
If you would like to learn more about how we support SLCN or the work of our Speech and Language
Therapist, please contact our SEND department sendco@bexley.latrust.org.uk
Leigh Academy Bexley is a Candidate School* for the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Careers Related Programme (IBCP). This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy – a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Leigh Academy Bexley believes is important for our students.
*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme, or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org
