Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you have had a great week.
The centre of this week has been Open Evening. What a great event! We believe that we had record numbers in attendance. Our visitors were exceptionally positive about the school, and our student tour guides received amazing praise. We had around 85 students from Years 7-11 supporting the school on the evening. Our visitors commented on their politeness, smartness, courtesy and confidence on the tours. They came up to me time and time again to tell me how wonderful our children were. A big thank you to all the students who helped on the evening, including over thirty Year 7’s in just their first week of school! We do this job for the children, and it was fantastic to hear so many positive comments about the positive reputation KAR has in our community given the brilliant students we have in this school. We are very ‘Proud to be Ringmer’. We continue next week with Open Mornings every day, welcoming visitors into our school and touring them via our student helpers.
We were excited to begin our Super Curriculum courses this week. For a school our size, this is a logistical challenge each term, but we are committed to giving children chances to develop their skills and interests in our quest to develop them into well-rounded characters. My walk around on a Wednesday afternoon is a highlight of the week, and a consistent validation that students value the opportunity to do something outside their academic studies. In addition to activities such as non-contact boxing, ceramics, coding and forestry, we were delighted to begin using the pool for the first time, with an excited first group in swimming lessons! In addition, I briefly had a go at one of our new activities, skateboarding, which I will need more practice on! A big thank you to all staff who support these activities, giving our students opportunities they may not otherwise have had.
At Key Stage 4, we have been really impressed with the focus and motivation with which students have started their GCSE courses. Every day is vital in the run-up to their exams. A reminder that next Monday we have our first ‘Route to Success’ evening for Year 11, so we look forward to welcoming parents and carers to the school.
A big thank you for supporting us in ensuring students get to school, as our attendance has started very strongly this year. A reminder that anything below 96% significantly reduces a student's chances of success at GCSE, and together we must do everything possible to get students into school. Even if they are feeling a little low in the morning, often once they are here the majority of students have excellent, productive days. You may have seen that school attendance has again made national news, with the data identifying that more than 50% of pupils who missed some of the first few weeks of school went on to become "persistently absent" in 2024, compared with just 14% of pupils who fully attended the first few weeks. Even at this early stage of term, a day off or more can negatively impact the rest of the year. We are happy to support you in whichever way we can to ensure that students begin the year on a positive routine.
Have a great weekend
Best wishes,
Mr Harvey
Post 16 Evening -Year 10 and 11 – Tuesday 23 September 2025, 6pm to 7pm
We would like to invite you to our post-16 evening at school on Tuesday 23rd September from 6-7pm.
This well-attended event is an excellent opportunity to meet and talk to local colleges and training providers about options after GCSE's. You will have the opportunity to discuss courses, speak to staff and compare different providers so you can make informed choices about your future. This evening is open to all our year 10 and 11 students, parents and carers. We look forward to seeing you all at this event.
The following providers will be attending :
East Sussex College/ Bexhill College/ Varndean/ Bhasvic/ DV8/ Uckfield sixth form/ Plumpton College/Brighton MET/ Bedes/ Seaford Head sixth Form/ BACA / The Armed Forces
Thank you, Mrs Colbourne, Careers Lead
Super Curriculum Launch – A Fantastic Start!
We’re delighted to share that our Super Curriculum programme launched successfully last week, with students across all year groups engaging in a wide range of enrichment activities designed to inspire, challenge, and extend learning beyond the classroom.
From the launch of the Ringmer Student magazine and the long-awaited swimming sessions to boxing and Skate School, students have responded with enthusiasm and curiosity. Staff have reported high levels of engagement, and it’s been wonderful to see students exploring new interests and building skills linked to our school ethos of Honesty, Faith, and Courage.
Timetables & Allocations
All Super Curriculum places have now been allocated and should be visible on student timetables. We are aware that a few adjustments are still needed, and we kindly ask for your patience while we finalise these details.
External Session Information – Payment Reminder
Some Super Curriculum sessions are delivered by external providers. If your child is currently enrolled in Temper Boxing or Sussex Skate School, please follow the instructions below to complete registration and payment directly with the provider. These two options are now fully booked for this term.
Temper Boxing (FULL for this term)
Coach: George Beattie - WhatsApp: +44 7597 613596 - Email: beatingtemper@gmail.com
Please ensure your child’s full name is clearly included when making payment.
Sussex Skate School
To register and pay, please email Alex at: info@sussexskateschool.com. Include your child’s full name and year group in the message.
Thank you for your continued support in helping us deliver a rich and varied Super Curriculum. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office.
King’s Academy Ringmer - Vegetable Harvest September 2025
Year 8’s spent some time in the green house harvesting a load of vegetables. Some of these students had planted the seeds earlier in the year. They enjoyed the reward of eating the fruits of their labour! Some of them had set up a competition to see who could grow the longest cucumber – it was a close finish. The monster crop from our post-summer holiday haul had to be a huge butternut squash that weighed in at almost 2 and a half kilos!
Students enjoyed cutting up and cooking our home-grown vegetables in Super curriculum at the end of the summer term. We enjoyed ‘Daisy beans’–boiled beans mixed with pesto and feta cheese, and vegetable stir-fry with basmati rice. All cooked in the greenhouse on a camping stove. Delicious!
ParentPay
Thank you to the parents that have already activated their child's ParentPay account. 93% of the whole school has already activated their account.
We are a cashless school and so all payments are paid via ParentPay. Please see below details of how to activate your account for King's Academy Ringmer.
If you do not currently have an account for ParentPay you simply go to the home page and click on the Parent log in in the top right-hand corner of the page as shown below.
You will then see the following page – you use the username and activation code from the letter that was given to you when your child started at school and select Login.
Confirm that the details are correct and then enter the date of birth for your child and click confirm.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete and successfully activate the account. Enter your name, email address, and create a password for your account (your email address will become your username).
Carefully read the ParentPay terms and conditions and check the box to accept them, then click Activate account. A verification email will be sent to you.
IMPORTANT You will need to click on the link within the email to complete the process and start using your account.
if you already have a Parentpay account, you simply log in and click on the + to add a child on the left-hand side as shown below.
This will then take you to the following page
Your current username and password will automatically show here, you just need to overtype with the username and password that are on the letters that were given to students last week and then click continue – This should then link your child to your main account.
On the home page, it will show two tabs (as shown below). If you then click on the blue tab, you will be able to put funds into your child's lunch account. If you click on the yellow tab, it will show you any other items to make payment - eg lockers, non-uniform days, revision books, school visits etc.
Thank you, Mrs Duckworth, School Business Manager
Post 16 Options, College Open Events
Please find a list of the upcoming college open events. These are great opportunities offering a direct, in-person experience to visit the college’s environment, meet staff and students, and explore facilities, helping you make an informed decision about your future.
Please contact the colleges directly for more information and be aware some of the events may require booking.
BACA https://www.baca-uk.org.uk/ 16/10/25 6pm-8pm
Bexhill Sixth Form College https://www.bexhillcollege.ac.uk/ 22&23/10/25 6pm-8.30pm
BHASVIC https://www.bhasvic.ac.uk/ 12&13/11/25 4pm-8pm
Brighton MET https://www.brightonmet.ac.uk/ 15/10/25 4.30pm -7pm & 22/11/25 10am -1pm
DV8 https://www.dv8sussex.com/ 8/10/25 5pm -7pm & 11/10/25 10am -12pm
East Sussex College https://www.escg.ac.uk/
Lewes - 14/10/25 + 20/11/25 + 19/3/26 3.45pm - 6.45pm
Eastbourne - 15/10/25 + 20/11/25 + 19/03/26 3.45pm - 6.45pm
Hastings - 16/10/25 + 20/11/25 + 19/03/26 3.45pm - 6.45pm
Newhaven- 20/11/25 + 19/03/26 3.45pm - 6.45pm
Heathfield Community College and Sixth Form https://www.heathfieldcc.co.uk/
23/10/25 5.30pm-7.30pm
Plumpton College https://www.plumpton.ac.uk/ 11/10/25 + 22/11/25 + 17/01/26 + 21/3/26 + 13/6/26 9am-12pm
Seaford Head Sixth Form https://seafordhead.org/ 09/10/25 6pm - 8pm & 11/10/25 10am - 12pm
Uckfield College Sixth Form https://www.uckfield.college/ 12/11/25 5pm-8.30pm Plus their taster lesson day. 4 Subjects at 20 minutes each: 01/12/25 2pm - 4pm
Varndean College https://www.varndean.ac.uk/ 27/10/25 11am-2pm & 06/11/25 4pm-8pm & International Baccalaureate Presentation 07/10/25 6.30pm-7.45pm
OVESCO’s ECO Open Houses is back!
Please follow this link to read more about these exciting events in Barcombe on 13 September, Lewes on 20 September, Hassocks and Ditchling on 27 September and at Rodmell on 27 September - https://ovesco.co.uk/event/eco-open-houses-gardens-2025/