Forty nine students took a major step closer to starting at the Academy last week when they attended a two day induction programme on Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday saw the students arrive promptly at 9am, looking resplendent in their "Class of 2010" red T-shirts, for a welcome by Academy Principal Mrs Carr, before all sitting CAT tests. The afternoon was taken up with sports and team building events, before gathering in the hall to discuss their day with Mrs Carr.

On Thursday, they were introduced to the principles of the International Baccaulaureate Middle Years Programme by Miss Cole, MYP Coordinator, including ways of working with which they may not be familiar.

A suitably topical question -"Why are England on a losing streak?" - was set for the students to answer over the course of the day via a series of tasks designed to help them think about the question*. Dividing into groups, in Drama they focussed on teamwork, in Integrated Curriculum they discussed the need for footballers to be good learners and team players, and in Science they performed mock drug testing as a way of discussing performance and integrity.

Students met again with Mrs Carr at the end of the day to reflect on their experiences, before joining their parents for that all important task of measuring up and ordering their new Academy uniform. Parents and students then met with Mrs Carr for an informal talk. This was also attended by a representative from KCC Transport, on hand to help with any questions about bus routes, timings and passes.

Mrs Carr said: " It was wonderful to welcome our soon be new Year 7 students. I believe they had a really good two days - a lot of hard work, but I hope a lot of fun too. It's a big transition for most of them, so it's important to do this to ensure that they all feel comfortable in what will be their new surroundings, and start to meet teachers and make new friendships that will hopefully last throughout their time at the Academy and even beyond."

* All the students' answers will of course be sent to one Mr F. Capello...