Principal's update 8 May 2026

Dear families

We are now in the middle of a very short term, and after the long weekend I want to offer some reminders around standards of behaviour here at Dixons Unity.

All students need to remain calm and sensible during social times, and in between lessons. We are seeing a slight slipping of standards when it comes to lineup, with students failing to be standing silently in their lines by the times hands are up. This eats into valuable lesson time, meaning that learning is lost. Students also need to make sure that they are transitioning with pace and purpose between lessons, to ensure they arrive in their classrooms before the music ends, ready to get on with their learn now immediately in respectful whole class.

We have been working on a pilot group to improve attendance, as we know it has a significant impact on both academic outcomes and learning behaviours. Within this group, attendance increased by 0.5%. While this may seem like a small improvement, it is actually a meaningful step forward and makes a real difference to children’s learning. Please continue to support us by encouraging your child to attend school every day. Current whole school attendance is 90% with the best attending year group in year 7 at 93%. That is a good standard to look to achieve. Our whole school attendance continues to increase, with a 2% increase in attendance compared to this time last year, and will soon be in line with national standards.

In addition, we are planning a focused programme on self-determination, as we want all our children to develop strong intrinsic motivation and strive for excellence in their academic studies. This drive will help open doors to future success, whether that is succeeding at university or a real alternative; they live happy and purposeful lives. We firmly believe our pupils can compete with the very brightest young people in the country. Please begin to ask your child about concepts such as Mastery, Autonomy and Purpose, and if you are able to support this at home, we would greatly appreciate it.

We had a fantastic transition evening last Thursday, where we were delighted to welcome our new Year 6 pupils to the school. We are expecting to be full in Year 7 next year, reflecting the growing reputation of our school within the local community. Thank you for your continued support. Please keep sharing your positive experiences and highlighting how happy our young people are, as well as the strong progress they are making academically as a result of the exceptionally high standards we set for learning and behaviour. Our expectations will continue to rise, and they remain unapologetically high. We are determined to build on the improvements already made and to ensure we are the school of choice for every family in our community.

We are now into the thick of GCSE exams, and Year 11 will have increased intervention to support them through these final few weeks. Expect drop down lessons, extra after school intervention, and Saturday revision sessions as well. I hope to see lots of students at our first Saturday revision session tomorrow, ahead of some absolutely key exams next week such as that first English paper.

While our Year 11 students are demonstrating their emotional and academic resilience, Year 9 have been working on their physical resilience. The Silver Duke of Edinburgh team set off on their practice walk on Wednesday. Thankfully the weather held up for their overnight camping. Congratulations as well to our Year 9 Enterprise champion students, who went to the King's Trust head office this week to connect with the team in the United States.

James Inman