Year nine pupil Kezia Tarzey, from Hanham Woods Academy, excelled recently at the Welsh Athletics Junior Open. Kezia claimed bronze medals in the 60 metres Sprint & 60 metres Hurdles, no mean feat when athletes from across the South West were taking part.

In fact, Kezia is, 2nd in South West for 75m Hurdles, 3rd in South West for 60m Hurdles, 5th in South West for 60m Sprint, and 11^th in the UK for hurdles!

During this competition Kezia achieved two personal bests, as well as qualifying for the England Athletics National Championships in Sheffield on February 11 and 12th.

Kezia who competes for the Bristol & West Academy, first became involved in athletics at the age of 11, around three years ago. Kezia started while in primary school and took part in lots of different competitions, competing in various disciplines, but now specialises in sprint and hurdles.

Kezia’s mum & dad said, “Kezia thoroughly enjoys her athletics and is so committed to being her best. We are so very proud of Kezia and her achievements.”

Kezia said: “I would like to thank my family and my coaches for their support, without them I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Steve O’Callaghan, Principal at Hanham Woods Academy, said: “We are exceptionally proud and honoured to have Kezia as one of our students and we are excited to be part of her journey in athletics.”

With the backing of North Somerset Council’s Children’s Services for the delivery
of the new SEND school, the Department for Education (DfE) have submitted
plans for Lime Hills Academy’s permanent site in Langford.

If planning permission is granted Lime Hills Academy, which opened in temporary accommodation in
September last year, will have places for up to 65 children and young people in year 1 to 11 (age 5-16),
with primary SEMH needs (Social, Emotional Mental Health needs).

Currently there is no special school provision for pupils with a primary diagnosis of SEMH needs within
North Somerset and 19% of local children with an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) have to travel
outside of the area to school.

Lime Hills Academy is part of the Cabot Learning Federation and aims to ‘level up’ educational
outcomes and keep children engaged in learning through specialist facilities and learning
programmes. The site enables opportunities for vocational studies and outdoor sports with a
closer connection to nature in a calm and sustainable environment.

The following key sustainability and biodiversity supporting aspects have been incorporated into the
design:
– low maintenance electric air source heat pumps replace use of gas boilers
– use of photovoltaic panels (PVs) across roof space
– maximising of daylight penetration in design to reduce use of artificial lighting
– minimisation of construction waste and ensuring a high percentage of what is generated is
diverted from landfill through reuse or recycling
– solar gains are kept at a manageable level allowing comfort to be achieved without the use of air
conditioning
– effective surface water management, incorporating swales
– reduction of CO2 emissions through incorporation of high insulation standards
– reduction of water use in building facilities
– additional trees will be planted, whilst existing trees and hedgerow will be maintained
– introduction of habitat areas as well as bird and bat nesting boxes and bug hotels
– compliant with latest building regulations and the DfE’s standards of Be Lean, Be Clean and Be
Green.

The architects have created a place of sanctuary for those with acute needs whilst also responding to
comments made during consultation from neighbouring properties to provide a sympathetic building
orientation and more sustainable landscape design. Lime Hills Academy will support the local economy
and bring new jobs to the area. The site benefits from being adjacent to both Langford and Churchill with
facilities designed for community use outside school hours.

Parking and drop-off for the school will be contained within the site and an off-site method of construction
will help minimise disruption to neighbours. All vehicular traffic will arrive and depart via Pudding Pie Lane
only. The teaching day will also be split between primary and secondary pupils so that trips are spread
throughout the day to reduce impact on the local network.

Lis Jolley, Lime Hills Academy Principal said, “In its new purpose-built home, Lime Hills Academy will
create an environment, a workforce and a curriculum experience which enables children and young
people with social, emotional and mental health difficulties to develop the skills, resilience and selfawareness
to be successful at first at school and then in later life.
“The setting will have a range of carefully designed spaces which will enable group interaction, safe
spaces for retreat, those which facilitate academic learning and those which are more therapeutic in
nature.

“A key strength of Lime Hills Academy is that it sits within the Cabot Learning Federation (CLF), a mature
multi-academy trust achieving above average outcomes for children with below average starting points.
With 22 academies and a mission to “consistently deliver excellent educational experiences for pupils
aged 3-19, improving their life chances and serving the communities of which we are a member.
“As a result of the learning undertaken at Lime Hills, upon graduation children we be able to benefit from
and contribute to their immediate community because their education has enabled them to better
understand themselves and their connection to the world around them.”

Cllr Catherine Gibbons, Executive Member for Children, Young People, Lifelong learning and Skills at
North Somerset Council said, “Lime Hills Academy is currently supporting 22 pupils from their temporary
accommodation in Nailsea. We are looking forward to the DfE delivering their permanent site as part of
our joint commitment to providing local schools and supporting those with social, emotional and mental
health needs. This is part of our strategy to ensure that all children should have the opportunity to attend
a good school within North Somerset where they can learn, grow and develop.

“Across North Somerset we are increasing the number of special school places from 368 prior to
September 2022 to 498 places by September 2024. We are also looking to create 50 additional places in
new Resource Bases and 80 places in Nurture Groups across the district from September 2023 to further
meet the needs of our children and young people. Lime Hills Academy will provide around 65 of these
additional specialist school place with closer access to high quality specialist education for these pupils
and reduced home to school journey times for many.”

For more information about the proposals you can visit n-somersetsendschoolplans.co.uk or visit the
Council planning portal here and look for planning application no 22/P/2920/FUL.

Uphill Village Academy took a group of pupils to a national event called Young Voices which brings together children to sing in the largest choirs in the world.

Young Voices provides an unrivalled musical opportunity for primary school children to perform all styles of music including folk, pop, rock and classical and is designed to unify children from across the region, boost their confidence and provide lifelong memories for them.

Teachers and pupils practise dance routines and learn songs for many months before coming together to perform in one of 4 arenas across the country, in London, Sheffield, Birmingham, or Manchester.

Uphill Village Academy pupils took part in Birmingham where 6,500 children from across the country performed together.

Over the past 25 years, Young Voices has staged full-scale arena concerts with first-class production values nationwide. More than two million children have passed through its doors to sing along with legends like Tony Hadley, Beverley Knight, Joss Stone and dozens of brilliant artists. This year the children performed alongside Heather Small, violinist Anna Phoebe, the Beatbox Collective and dance group Urban Strides.

Samantha Hodder, Principal of Uphill Village Academy, said: “Young Voices is a unique experience which enables our children to perform with thousands of children from across the country. The children absolutely love attending and are always inspired by the acts they perform alongside. It is a fabulous opportunity to celebrate the importance of the arts and it is so lovely to witness the impact events like this have on the children.”

It’s been a good month for CLF academies in the January edition of the Voices newspapers, six separate articles, including two front pages! Please see below for more details.

Three years since their last show because of COVID Bristol Metropolitan Academy returned with a bang and staged sell out shows of their highly anticipated musical production of ‘Matilda’ to over 1200 people. Molly Sykes Jerrold Year 8 and Lyra Larkin Year 9 performed the lead role of Matilda and received outstanding reviews.

Champion Go Karter Ryan Fisher, a Hanham Woods Academy Year 11 student recently spent a fantastic weekend in Belgium to experience racing at Spa-Francorchamps karting.

School children from Minerva Primary Academy from Years 4, 5 and 6 went to Hillfields park to plant trees. It was hard work digging the holes, but the children had help from volunteers including Marvin Rees, the Bristol Mayor!

John Cabot Academy has launched a major new anti-bullying initiative that tackles race, gender, appearance, sexuality, special educational needs and disability, and or home circumstances. Fronting this initiative is a poster campaign throughout the building.

Cabot Learning Federation Post 16 students wore either cultural dress or a Christmas jumper to raise money for save the Children.

On Saturday 10th December, Kingswood centre came alive with festive stalls, food and music from the John Cabot Academy choir and musicians.

On Saturday 10th December, Kingswood centre came alive with festive stalls, food and music from the John Cabot Academy choir and musicians.

This was a community event organised by Creative Youth Network. Visitors could purchase a hot drink and nibbles from their resident café, The White Elephant. They could also a walk around the stalls and get to know the people in their local area.

The 20 students from Year 7 to Year 11 performed a festive medley of songs including “Silent Night” and “White Christmas”, and also performed late 1980s classic “Like a Prayer” by Madonna in three-part choir harmony.

One student said, “They were delighted to be a part of this festive event and to spread the Christmas spirit in their local community.”

The students have been busily preparing for their own Winter Concert and were glad to be asked to participate in this event.

Their music teacher, Ms Grierson said, “Here at John Cabot we value our community and want to be involved where we can. This was a brilliant opportunity for students to get out in the community and share their lovely voices and musical talents.”