Mr Wilding has sent a start-of-term update to parents and carers regarding exam results, staff changes, key dates, school uniform, attendance guidance and safeguarding issues..
To all parents/carers
Good morning, from LCS.
It is my pleasure to welcome all students, parents and carers to the start of another year at LCS. I would particularly like to welcome all parents/carers of our new Year 7 students, particularly if you have not had children attend LCS in the past.
I would also like to welcome any parents/carers of new students to Year 12.
In my first update of the year, I will try to summarise the main issues I would like you all to be aware of for the start of term. As in previous years, I will aim to update parents and carers regularly throughout the year, with key events and news from the school.
Exam Results
We were again delighted this summer with the success of our students, both at A Level and GCSE.
For A Level , 32% of all grades were A*/A, which is 3% up from 2023. 61% of grades were at A*-B, 81% of A level grades were at A*-C and our overall A Level pass rate was 99.4%
Our Year 11 students also did exceptionally well at GCSE level, with 79% of students achieving Level 4 or above in English Language and Maths and 53% Level 4 or above in the suite of Ebacc subjects.
For me as Headteacher of a large and diverse school community, I am delighted that all our student cohorts appear to have made positive progress at LCS, compared with similar schools nationally.
Staff leaving LCS and new staff for September
Several staff left the school at the end of last term, either due to retirement or moves to promoted posts at other schools. Miss Rost, Miss Dodson, Mr Perks and Mr Taylor have all moved on from LCS and we wish them all well for the future.
The following staff have all been appointed to our teaching team for the start of the new school year:
N. Dupont – Languages
J. Dhanjal – Maths
C. Massey – Art
J. Krishna – Science
M. Renwick – Business
O. Ehrhart – English
S. Woodings – English
We welcome all our new staff to LCS.
Key Dates and whole school events
To help parents/carers with planning for the new school year, I have listed, below, some of the key dates for major school events.
Term dates for 2024/25 can be found on our school website, including INSET Days.
Some of our key events for this year are;
School Open Day - 10th October
Sixth Form Open Day - 17th October
Details and timings for these events will be shared nearer the time.
For Parents' Evenings, we are continuing with the remote SchoolCloud system, which has proved popular with most parents and carers. There are additional events for parents/carers of students in Year 7 and 9, which will be held in school.
The full list of Parents' Evenings is as follows:
Year 7 – 'Settling-in' meeting with Form Tutor - 21st November (in school)
Year 7 Parents' Evening - 6th March (SchoolCloud)
Year 8 Parents' Evening - 1st May (SchoolCloud)
Year 9 Options Information Event - 16th January (in school)
Year 9 Parents' Evening - 23rd January (SchoolCloud)
Year 10 Parents' Evening - 6th February (SchoolCloud)
Year 11 Parents' Evening - 14th November (SchoolCloud)
Year 12 Parents' Evening - 20th March (SchoolCloud)
Year 13 Parents' Evening - 5th December (SchoolCloud)
There will be many other school events taking place, which we will inform all parents/carers of as the year progresses.
School Uniform
As always, I would respectfully ask all parents/carers to support us in sending your child(ren) to school dressed according to our published school uniform policy.
The only change to our uniform policy this year is with our PE colours changing from Blue shorts/bottoms to Black, which all parents/carers have been informed of previously.
All items requiring the school logo can be purchased from our recognised uniform suppliers.
I would respectfully ask all parents/carers to take note of our policy on footwear, as students must wear shoes and not trainers. I appreciate that many retailers will advertise black trainers as 'school uniform compliant', but this is not the case for LCS.
I would also ask that parents/carers support us in our policy on student hairstyles and jewellery, as we do not want, or enjoy, the time sometimes taken with students and parents over these issues.
Attendance guidelines changes
Overall attendance at LCS last academic year was 94%. This level of attendance has been achieved through the school working together with parents and carers, as well as our expectations that students should be in school, unless absent through genuine illness. LCS will continue to have high expectations around attendance and I thank parents and carers for your continued support with this.
There are some changes to national guidance on school absence fines for the new school year, which I have summarised below. In sharing this information with parents/carers, I hope it will ultimately be for information only and that we will not need to refer any issues to the Local Authority.
Any parent/carer with concerns over their child's attendance should contact the respective Head of Year, in the first instance.
'Absence fines charged to parents will rise from £60 to £80, or £160 if not paid within 21 days. Schools decide whether to issue fines, but Local Authorities administer them.
From Autumn 2024, only two fines can be issued to the same parent for the same child within a three-year rolling period. Any second notice will automatically be charged at £160.
New "notices to improve" will also be the "final opportunity for a parent to engage in support and improve attendance before a penalty notice is issued".
From September, schools will have to consider a fine if a pupil misses 10 sessions (half days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. The threshold can be met with "any combination of unauthorised absence", for example, four sessions in term time plus six instances of arriving late, after the register has closed. The period of 10 weeks can also span "different terms or school years".
Safeguarding
As many parents/carers will already be aware, I have communicated numerous times in the past information to help keep students safe on-line. Students' use of mobile phones and social media, in all Year Groups, but particularly in Year 7 to 9, is an issue we regularly address in school, from the perspective of student safeguarding, as well as behaviour-related issues.
It is vital that parents/carers work together with us in promoting positive use of smartphones and associated technology, to avoid uncomfortable, unsafe or unacceptable behaviour amongst peers online and in chat groups such as Whatsapp, Dischord, Snapchat etc.
We would continue to encourage all parents/carers to discuss practical and behavioural boundaries with their children when using mobile phones and social media. There is very useful information and advice to help parents/carers with this, at https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/parents-and-carers/phones.
On a day-to-day basis, students and parents/carers who would appreciate some discreet support with emotional wellbeing, looking after themselves and building resilience, can speak to our Wellbeing Team for a conversation, or for signposting to supportive agencies.
Other useful safeguarding information can be found on our school website.
Thank you for your continued support of our school, our students and our staff.
I look forward to working with you all this year.
Keep safe.
