Dear Parents / Carers
Welcome to start of new academic year 2025-26
I hope you and your family had a restful and enjoyable summer break. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the start of a new academic year at Leigh Academy Hugh Christie (LAHC). Our staff are ready and excited to welcome students back and continue building on the excellent progress made last year.
Our New Year 7 and Year 12 will start on Monday, 1st September, whilst all other year groups will start from Tuesday, 2nd September.
We are delighted to inform you that we received fantastic sets of results for both GCSEs and A levels over the summer holiday. At GCSE nearly 60% of students achieved grade 4 or higher in English and Maths with an average attainment grade of over 4 for students who were taught at Leigh Academy Hugh Christie. The number of students studying EBACC qualification continues to increase and average point scores achieved are improved too. Our students also secured the best ever attainment score in the history of LAHC. We have more than 230 grades awarded at equivalent 6, 7, 8 and 9 with top grades of 9 awarded across a range of subjects.
At A level, nearly 40% of the grades awarded were equivalent A/A* whilst more than 71% of the grades achieved were at a level equivalent to A*-C. The proportion of students achieving A*-A at A level and across vocational subjects has improved significantly. All students who applied for the university places successfully secured their choice.
University courses that Leigh Academy Hugh Christie Students will study include but are not exhaustive to; Physics with modern foreign language, Political Science, Sociology, Mathematics, Electronic engineering, Fine Arts, Sports journalism, Astrophysics, History, Media and Communication, Chemical engineering. This fantastic outcome demonstrates a continued improvement in the quality of teaching and learning provided to all our students across the academy.
We are incredibly proud of these achievements. These fantastic outcomes reflect the continued improvement in the quality of teaching and learning at LAHC. On behalf of the governing body and all the staff at Leigh Academy Hugh Christie, I would like to pass my congratulations to all our hard working students, supportive parents and excellent staff.
During the summer holiday, we have carried out a significant amount of building improvement work at our academy, including new toilet facilities for our students, improving the learning environment across the academy and general refurbishment. These developments support our ongoing goal to create a high-quality, modern learning environment for every student in our state of art building.
As you know, we made significant progress across the academy last year. Our attendance improved at a rate well above the national average, and for the first time in LAHC’s history, we are now in line with the national benchmark—an important milestone for our community. We also enhanced our rewards and sanctions system, and I’m pleased to share that eight out of every ten events logged were positive. This is a powerful reflection of how consistently our students live out our core values of the 3Rs.Our digital strategy, including the effective use of Chromebooks, alongside the delivery of the IB MYP curriculum at Key Stage 3, has significantly improved curriculum accessibility and student engagement across all year groups. Our small school model remains at the heart of everything we do, fostering a strong sense of belonging and connection for all our students. We are extremely proud to have received a positive Challenge Partner review, which validates our progress and accredits our transformational leadership in improving behaviour and culture as an Area of Excellence.
Of course, we are not complacent. We remain committed to building on our strengths, ensuring every student receives the very best education, achieves their full potential, develops essential life skills, and secures the strongest possible outcomes for a successful future.
As the excitement of the new academic year builds, I would like to reiterate some of our basic expectations to ensure that all students are able to make the best start to the new year. All students need to be on the academy site from 8:25 am every day to start their advisory at 8:30am. Students need to be in full school uniform and bring all required equipment to be ready for their learning. As you know we operate “on site out of sight” approach regarding the mobile phone, the use of mobile phones is banned on our academy site for all students. Any students who bring their mobile phone to academy with them, must make sure that their mobile phone is switched off and stored away safely in the bottom of their bag at all times whilst on the academy site.
Thank you for your continued support. By working together, we will ensure that every student at Leigh Academy Hugh Christie stays happy, safe, and on track to make excellent progress and achieve great things in the year ahead.
Yours Sincerely,
Palak Shah | Principal
