Principal's update - 18 September 2026

Dear families

Thank you for the strong start we have had to the year. Let's keep the same energy and enthusiasm high as we move forward, ensuring that all students attend every lesson they possibly can. We all know how important regular school attendance is for children's learning, progress and wellbeing. Please continue to support us by encouraging your child to attend school every day and arrive on time. Please also be aware that if your child arrives at school after 9:00am, they will not receive a morning attendance mark. Our year-to-date attendance currently stands at 93.6%. At the same point last year, attendance was 92.5%, showing an encouraging improvement. Please take time to review your child's attendance and note the impact illustrated in the grid below.

A few other interesting facts on attendance include:

On average…

• Lifetime earnings are down by £750 per day of absence
• Students who are persistently absent (miss more than 10% of school) earn on average £10,000 a year less by age 28
• For students who are severely absent, this rises to almost £20,000
• Students who are persistently absent are 60% less likely to be employed by the age of 28
• This rises to 75% for students who are severely absent
• On average a student with 100% attendance does 2 grades better in every subject than a student with 80% attendance

On the topic of attendance, I'd like to ask families to utilise the visitor parking stops at pick up and drop off times. With all of our students arriving at the same time, we can have a backlog of cars up the drive and even out into the street. Instead of driving your child up to the doors, please head into the visitor parking spaces on your right and ask your child to walk from there.

A reminder that our Open Evening will take place on Thursday 24th September from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. We would be extremely grateful if you could encourage families with children currently in Year 5 or Year 6 to come along and see the fantastic opportunities and experiences available at our school. Please help us by sharing your positive experiences and promoting all the great things happening at Unity. We are also encouraging prospective families who are considering sending their children to our school to arrange a visit during the school day. This provides an opportunity to see our excellent education, high standards and strong school culture in action. The popularity of the school is growing rapidly as a result of the outstanding quality of education and support we provide at Unity, and we expect to have very few spare places available in the near future. This is a credit to everyone associated with the school and reflects the superb reputation we have built within the local community.

Speaking of our reputation, Luke Sparkes, CEO of our Trust, welcomed David Laws to the school on Monday. David served as a government minister during the Coalition Government and is now involved in educational research and policy. Having heard about the significant progress and success of Unity, he specifically chose to visit our school to see first-hand the excellent work taking place. During his visit, David met with members of staff and several students before touring the school. He was extremely complimentary about what he saw, commenting on the positive culture, high standards, strong relationships across the school and in particular the ambition of our students. He left very impressed with the work being carried out at Unity and expressed a desire to return in the near future.

I was very proud to have breakfast yesterday with the students who gave up their weekend to create a music video with the Rethink Food Project and two professional actors. The feedback from the crew was incredible, with the professionalism of our students being mentioned as a particular strength. The integrity shown by those students, as well as their commitment to school and the local community, exemplifies the qualities here at Dixons Unity that we value so highly.

Looking forward to next week, our new girl guiding group will be starting up. This is a great opportunity for some of our students to develop important skills that will be vital to their future success at university or a real alternative. We will also begin our literacy interventions, with phonics and reading fluency groups returning to support students in developing those essential reading skills that will help students to achieve the grades they need at GCSE and beyond. 

Enjoy your weekend.

James Inman