I hope you’ve had a great week. It was wonderful to see the children’s delight and excitement when we had our first snow of the year on Wednesday! 

New Reception events 

We’re running lots of events for families choosing which school their children will join in Reception next September. The photo above shows our wonderful CAW Ambassadors helping to run a biscuit decorating activity this week. Please do spread the word about our other events...we’d love to welcome even more families.

Headteacher Drop In Forum Wednesday 3rd December 2025 at 2pm 

It was fantastic to welcome so many families to our Behaviour and Attendance drop in in Autumn 1. We really value your feedback and ideas. I’ll be hosting our Autumn 2 drop in on Wednesday 2nd December at 2pm: please do come and join me for a cup of tea and to share any ideas you have about the school and we could be even better. We’ll be joined by Janis Taylor, Chair of our LAB too. 

Updated Behaviour Policy 

We’ve added some more detail to our Behaviour Policy, which you can read here. The core values and systems remain the same. I’m grateful to Mr. Kelsey, our new Assistant Headteacher, who has had such a positive impact on behaviour at the school...and especially for how well he referees football matches each day! 

Peacehaven Mosque Open Day 

Miss Scozzafava and I were delighted to be welcomed to the Peacehaven Mosque Open Day by our wonderful Reception Robins Teacher Mrs. Miah. Recent events have been challenging for the community, but seeing everyone come together has been truly inspirational. The Mosque was recently visited by Prime Minister Kier Starmer and local MP Chris Ward, and we were honoured to be able to show CAW’s support too.

Aurora Academies Trust Governance Conference 

City Academy Whitehawk is a unique school that we have designed to proudly serve the Whitehawk community. We’re also one of seven schools in the Aurora Academies Trust, and I spent Thursday at the Governance Conference with representatives from each of the schools’ Local Academy Boards, and the Aurora Trustees. It’s great to be part of such a successful and forward-thinking organisation: we have lots of plans in place to further improve the provision here at CAW. 

Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you on the gate on Monday morning, 

Russell Wood 

Headteacher 

City Academy Whitehawk