Summer 2025 Newsletter
Posted 18th July 2025
Here we are at the end of yet another amazing year at Temple Learning Academy!
At the beginning of June, Reception parents and carers joined us for a marvellous maths event where they saw the children shine during maths input and then they explored maths learning through play in provision.
Our Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh cohort were incredible on their practice expedition this half term — they showed teamwork, resilience, and independence, literally every step of the way – and there were many steps! The way they supported each other was fantastic, especially in the extreme heat we experienced that particular weekend. We’re especially proud of how quickly (and expertly!) they got their tents up — record time all round! The real assessed expedition is in September…we can’t wait.
Our sports teams have been going from strength to strength this half term; including our Year 5 and Year 6 attending a tag rugby tournament, where they won 7 games out of 10, and showed some amazing leadership skills! Our Year 3 football team played in a local tournament – and won! We were so proud of their efforts, both individually and as a team! We also entered the Red Kite Mini Olympics in Harrogate – sadly we did not win overall, but we did win the tug of war competition. Our students also had a chance to sit and chat with Mr Sheriff, our Trust CEO, and as always were an absolute credit to TLA. On 6th June, our primary students walked a mile each to raise money and awareness for the NSPCC – well done to all who took part!
Between 9 th and 13th June, we celebrated Careers Week – all our students had the opportunity to learn about a variety of different careers, and we had lots of visitors in school from HSBC, Headlam Carpets, Ahead Partnerships (bus companies), Leeds College of Building and Leeds Beckett University. The week ended with our primary students dressing as what they would like to be when they grew up, which resulted in some great conversations around future aspirations. We were blown away by their efforts!!
The Year 6 two-night residential to Malham was a huge success. Lots of walking, as well as learning about natural remedies, tasting carefully chosen wild plants and a very wet day spent testing their wild swimming skills! They had a can-do attitude, despite some high wind speeds, and really showed their resilience and teamwork.
On 9th June, our Year 10 Hospitality and Catering students held another incredible event at the Royal Armouries. Over 250 guests gathered to witness our students step into a professional setting: planning, preparing and serving a top-quality dining experience. From kitchen to front of house, our students showed incredible skill, professionalism, and confidence, gaining invaluable real-world experience. Thank you to Cllr Dan Cohen, Lord Mayor of Leeds, for coming along to support, and a special thanks to Mr Nolan for his organisation once again!
We love science at TLA, and we are so proud to be able to celebrate our Primary Science Quality Mark accreditation, recognising the commitment that we have to Primary science and the opportunities that all children have from EYFS to Y6, and beyond, to become inspired by science! This is such a great achievement, and the children should be very proud of their great attitudes to science which helped us reach the quality mark standard!
Year 8 had a great day at the seaside in Scarborough back in June - their behaviour was absolutely impeccable – a real credit to themselves and our school. They packed the day with two hours of beach activities, enjoyed fish and chips, had fun in the arcades, and, of course…couldn’t leave without an ice cream! An epic day – full of sunshine, laughter, and memories!
On the 3rd July, over 600 students and a hundred staff made the now annual pilgrimage to the John Charles Stadium for our third TLA Sports Day where we all had a great time. Just about everyone got involved and participated in at least one event. Well done everyone!
Our Year 10 Textiles students had a fantastic day at the University of Huddersfield on 12th June as part of the ‘Woven in Kirklees Innovation in Textiles’ event! Our students had the opportunity to meet inspiring fashion and textiles companies from across Yorkshire, learn how materials are tested, see degree-level graduate work and even try their hand at printing and came away feeling so inspired and full of ideas.
In June, Mindmate Ambassadors attended TLA, highlighting their service in providing support and information for young people's mental health. They laid out a stall over lunch time for both Primary and Secondary students, enticing them with a competition to win Mindmate prizes! A huge thank you to each and every student who took part, showed interest, asked questions and engaged with the stall and Ambassadors. It was a real success!
Our Year 11 GCSE exam season ended with a leavers’ assembly on 16th June, where students said their goodbyes and marked the start of their summer holidays. This was followed by their Prom on 26th June at the Royal Armories, which was a fantastic night full of lovely food, dancing and awards, as well as a beautiful speech from our departing Year 11 Student Principal. We are so very proud of our wonderful Year 11 Leavers and wish them all the luck in the future. We are very much looking forward to celebrating your successes with you on results day on Thursday 21st August. Our Primary children also celebrated the end of the summer term with class parties, the summer fair and a Prom for Year 6!
We enjoyed three ‘Jump Up’ days last week where our Year 6 students gained a real taste of what life will be like in September when they graduate into our secondary phase. Hopefully, the three days provided not only memorable but also meaningful opportunities, and we are confident that they are now all ready to return in September with a thirst for learning and a maturity of approach to enable the strongest possible start to the year.
Yesterday, we finished off the term with an amazing rewards trip to Alton Towers for our Secondary Phase. They had the most fabulous day on the rides, spending time with their friends before we finish for summer.
Recently, we were delighted to hear from an ex-TLA pupil who has gone on to have huge successes in her post-16 studies. Jenny left TLA after her GCSEs in 2023 and has gone on to complete a 2-year Extended Diploma in Creative Practice at Leeds Arts University. In September, she will continue her studies with a BA Hons degree in Comic and Concept Art – well done Jenny; we are incredibly proud of you!! Our TLA artists also continue to shine in school, with some incredible work being awarded each week with ‘Artist of the Week’.
Next academic year we have something very exciting to look forward to – over the summer we will have our pop-up swimming pool installed! This will be in place at TLA for 8 weeks, and our Year 4 students will benefit from intensive, daily swimming lessons for this period. We can’t wait!
At TLA we know that attending school is the best thing your child can do to ensure they are safe, happy, healthy, and able to achieve fantastic outcomes that lead them onto their next steps in the wider world. Although you may think that missing a day here and there doesn't matter, any absence can have a huge impact on learning. This is like missing an episode of your favourite TV series or soap - it makes it hard to understand what is going on! Please remember we are always here to support you and your child with any issues around their attendance - please speak to any adult in school. We are aiming for 100% attendance on the first day back so that your child can take part in the Excellence week activities which will ready them for the year ahead. TLA truly is unmissable!
It has been quite a final half term to cap off another absolutely incredible, busy and exciting year here at TLA, and everyone has very much earned a rest.
Please remember, Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd September are Staff Training Days, and school re-opens to all students on Wednesday 3rd September 2025. Please ensure that your child/ren are here on the Wednesday so that they do not miss out on valuable learning opportunities that will set them up for a very successful year.
We hope that you and your family have a very well-deserved, fun-filled summer break and we look forward to seeing you all in September.
