Welcome to Ormiston Rivers Academy

I was dreading trying to work with two teenagers home-schooling too, but it seems to have worked really well (after a couple of minor technical issues this morning!)

Indeed my daughter is getting on great with online lessons x

Today I was not at work and was able to listen in to the lessons of my children, one in year 8 and one in year 7. I would like to praise the teachers at ORA, what an incredibly hard role they find themselves in, but every lesson I heard today the teachers were full of motivation and really tried hard to engage with the class. My children have also informed me that several teachers have said if they need anything to drop them an email, which I find great kindness in. Many thanks to the whole team at ORA in such a difficult time.

I just wanted to also pass on my thanks to the school for the amazing work they are doing during this time. I know of friends with children in other local schools both primary and secondary and the support is nowhere near the level received from Ormiston. Proof that live-lessons can work and can educate our children. We are just so grateful for the extra time all the teachers are putting in to support this right now and also the weekly well-being calls to make sure they are doing ok.

I just wanted to add my thanks to you and your staff, for all the hard work you are putting into making remote learning work, for both the pupils and for their families.

I’m so pleased to see the new time table. It will give us time to get them out of the house between lessons. The school is being so versatile at the moment and it really does make a difference.

Year 8 assembly - Great assembly this morning Mr Priddle. Really interesting. I only popped in to check my daughter was logged on and stayed for the duration. Well done to you and Miss Marks. Take care.

The school is amazing. What a great idea for a stationary drop but more so to think of the sanitary products for the girls. I would never have thought about doing that. Mrs Baker has done wonders for that school. Not just a great head but a great team player.

I just wanted to say a massive thank you to all the teachers and Mrs Baker you have done an amazing job. You are all awesome.

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to the whole ORA team…. Today has been a great first day with the live-lessons … as a family, it’s given us routine, purpose and confidence for the boys to learn by themselves. As a parent working from home this is so much better as the boys having to work to a timetable with live tutoring is allowing me to still do my job effectively, it’s win win all round. Also, thank you for the wellbeing calls …. Very much appreciated.

Your hard work makes a huge difference.

The hard work and dedication of all staff is much appreciated. Thank you xxxx

The live timetabled lessons have been absolutely brilliant. My son felt really happy with how it worked out and was very impressed. The staff at the school has been amazing. You have all had to rush around to get everything in place for our kids at short notice. Thank you.

Brilliant Work ORA, Home Schooling has never been this easy. My Son is in the school routine and it really makes a difference. Thank you to all the Staff and Mrs Baker for all your hard work in putting this all together. Reading posts from other Parents / Schools in and around Essex, they are not as fortunate as us to have this available to them and Parents are stressed. Thank you for all your hard work. Proud of all our kids who are getting up and starting their school day, albeit in their Trackies... (who do I pay the £1.00 to for Non-Uniform Day?) Thank you x

My three were all very happy with the setup. Thank you staff xx

I was impressed with the home learning in the last lockdown, but the live-lessons are fantastic!!! The school has done a great job!!! Well done ORA.

My two had a really good day and I was surprised at how well the day went. The teachers were brilliant and it made home learning so much easier. Well done to all the kids and everyone at ORA xx

I was at work yesterday (furloughed from today) phoned them at 9am to check they were ready and actually were!! They were sat waiting for it to start, got in at 6 and so happy to see/hear how it had all gone. Well done ORA

So much better with live-lessons. I asked my son how he felt about them and he said he really enjoyed the interaction with teachers and friends online rather than being sat in his room all day trying to motivate himself.

My sons found it so much better, having structure and interaction to do their work. Well done ORA teachers and everyone involved, live lessons are definitely a thumbs up.

Live lessons made so much difference and my daughter enjoyed it, thank you. So very different from the first lockdown.

I have just seen your update on the ORA Facebook page and I am stuck for words. Honestly! Just amazed at yourself and your staff! You're now handing out materials for sewing and DT lessons etc. Children have every opportunity you can possibly give them to learn and do well. What a fabulous school and group of human beings you are.

Fantastic! Well done ORA.

I’m so impressed. X

I just completed the science test and I got 50/58 and I wanted to thank you for actually teaching us and putting on afterschool booster sessions. they really helped because I don't think I've ever got that kind of score on a science test before :)

Please pass on my heartfelt thanks to all the teaching staff. It has been an emotional rollercoaster for all of us, and we are looking forward to a return to some kind of normal. It was not the first year of secondary I imagined for my daughter, but I think it will be the making of her, not the breaking. I keep telling her if she can get through this there is nothing she cannot achieve. Thank you again, and here's to a wonderful last couple of terms. PS. We also thought the careers day was good, very hard to do remotely but the speaker in the morning was brilliant, more of him, please!

Thank you for everything you have done for me and you have definitely given me the strength to realise my dreams.

This was such an amazing opportunity, so thank you so much. I really appreciate you picking me and I will never forget it.

I just wanted to say how brilliant the play was last night. It could easily give any West End show a run for its money. The students did amazingly well and you must be very proud of them.

Hi. I just wanted to send a quick note to say how pleased I am with my son's progress since he started in September. He has grown in confidence so much so I wanted to say a huge thank you to all his teachers and staff for giving him the encouragement and support he needed.

I just wanted to write to say how impressed I have been by the two recent shows I came to see at the Academy. To see young people with so much confidence, energy and talent was simply astonishing. It still makes me smile with pleasure to think about it.

Hello. I've just spent two hours walking around your school with my daughter, helped by two fantastic student ambassadors who were incredibly polite and patient. All the teachers I spoke to were brilliant. Many thanks for helping my daughter make a fully informed decision.

I wanted to congratulate you and your staff on a fantastic awards ceremony at the Academy this week. There was a true sense of pride and community among the staff and pupils and tangible evidence of progress and success. Congratulations to you all on your fantastic achievements. We are so lucky to have a fantastic school to send our children to.

Thank you to all your staff that have done so much for my daughter and inviting her to so many support sessions, you couldn't have done more for her in her 5 years with you, you are amazing.

Just a note to say thanks to you and the student group for organising the Diversity Week which sounds excellent and also for the great comms you have sent out for parents. It is so good to see our young people learning about equality and having the opportunity to celebrate diversity.

I would like to thank the Science department in particular for going that extra mile by putting on regular after-school lessons and scheduling numerous revision classes during the holiday periods.

Please could you pass my thanks on to the staff at ORA for their commitment and hard work. We were very pleased with my daughters GCSE results and I know the teachers and support staff go over and above to help and support the students as much as they can. It is appreciated. I cannot fault the help and support she received.

I would just like to say a huge thank you for everything. You have given me support and helped grow my confidence. I am so grateful for this.

The staffroom is very busy at break-time, its nice to see everyone talking and sharing stories about their mornings (and the free hot drinks made for you... so there's no arguing about who buys the milk!)

This is the friendliest school I've worked in, everyone makes you feel really welcome, really quickly and are happy to help you out.

The school community is open and caring, this means our students are comfortable talking about their mental health and feelings.

I came to work here because of the outstanding outcomes and the turnaround that has genuinely happened to this school and community, I'm learning how it has been done. A lot of the excellence is down to great teaching day in, day out and very strong student relationships.

I have had many meetings with the Head to check and make sure I am okay, or just to make sure my work/life balance exists, which I haven't experienced from other Headteachers previously.

Everyone I have come across seems to genuinely care, this in turn is the same for the students, the student-staff relationships are so strong at Rivers.

As a body of teaching staff and school community, we look out for one another. We are relentlessly focused on getting outcomes for every student and it's great to be able to share what works with which students.

I love school, I’ve made really good friends which I was soooooo nervous about! There are so many different subjects to learn and my teachers make tricky things seem like I can actually learn them!

These live lessons are a godsend thank you ORA

I think the whole lessons online thing is brilliant so much structure it’s amazing

Take my hat off to you guys this online learning is amazing

Please send my thanks to everyone at ORA I watched my son giggling at an English lesson. Well done great work!