150 Seymour Road, Leyton, E10 7LX Tel: 020 8988 5860 / Fax: 020 8988 5861 Website: www.lammas.waltham.sch.uk Friday 7th July 2017 ISSUE NO: 436 Email: [email protected]

Heads Corner:

We have now entered the final phase of the school year – and all exams are finished, Module 4 is complete and teachers are busy marking assessments to ensure the final reports for students are all accurate. We also use these results and reports to help us plan effectively for the new school year from September. For our students, there is another increase in the range of enrichment activities provided by staff, and for this I would like to thank the staff for their energy and enthusiasm.

Here is a sample of the recent additional opportunities for students:  Borough sports competitions in netball, rounders, athletics and cricket  Our annual Prom for the Year 11 students at Chigwell Golf and Country Club  Our annual residential trip for Year 7 students to an outdoor activities centre on the Isle of Wight  An Art trip to Central London  An Art exhibition of the work of our young artists  A wide choice of events for an Activities Day led by each department, with many trips on offer  A team-building Activities Day for each of our Vertical Teams  Our annual Sports Day with everyone from Years 7 to 10 taking part You can look forward to reading about each of these in the final newsletter of the year next week.

On Wednesday this week we had the pleasure of welcoming our new Year 7 students who join us in September, providing a typical day in the life of . Thank you to the student helpers who did a great job making everyone feel welcome.

And there is more to come! Before the end of term, we can look forward to:  The Year 7 Poetry Slam on Monday 10th July  Workshops for Year 9 and Year 8 led by ‘Diverse Role Models’ on Monday and Tuesday 10th and 11th July  Year 5 students visiting us on Wednesday 12th July from Riverley and Willow Brook  Year 10 Parents’ Evening on Thursday 13th July  A special Year 10 Achievement Assembly on Monday 17th July  The Year 8 Graduation on Tuesday 18th July. Y8 go home at 12.20pm to get changed and return to school; Y9 and 10 leave school at 1.20pm and Year 7 finish at 2pm.

During the school holiday there is a fantastic opportunity for some of our Year 9 and 10 students to become the first group in any school in the borough to participate in the “Inspire Programme”. The recent presentation to explain this opportunity outlined an impressive range of activities that will ensure our students have a great range of experiences to add to their CV – including a leadership workshop at the London School of

Economics and a community project that they will present to Councillors in the Waltham Forest Council Chamber. Places are limited so an early reply is needed to secure their place on this interesting and innovative programme!

Please read the enclosed letter outlining concerns about school funding that has been signed by all Secondary Headteachers and is going out to all parents in the borough this week. We feel very strongly that change is needed and ask for your support in this campaign.

I hope you enjoy the sunshine and have a lovely weekend.

Shona Ramsay Headteacher

Waltham Forest Secondary Heads’ Group June 2017 Dear Parents/Carers, This letter is being sent to parents and carers of all Secondary School pupils in Waltham Forest on behalf of secondary Headteachers/Principals. We appreciate that this may well re-state points that you have already been made aware of, however, we felt the matter of future funding for schools is so significant that we also wanted to write to you, outlining major issues that are being faced by all schools across the Borough. The challenges being faced are not unique to any one school, but are widespread and of huge concern to all of us, as school leaders. You will be aware from the national press the issues surrounding both the “National Funding Formula” and “Fairer Funding”, that have been part of the political discussion leading up to the recent General Election. With the outcome of the election now confirmed we would urge you to return to helping address the matter of ensuring adequate school funding. Each of our schools face real cuts in budgets, which amount to 8% - 11% by 2020. The challenges of meeting these costs will impact upon every school and will, unfortunately, influence our ability to be able to provide the excellent education that we believe your children deserve. We, as school leaders, are in discussion with our Members of Parliament, asking them to represent our concerns about the impact that the National Funding Formula and the level of funding is having upon schools. We would like to use this letter to encourage you, as parents and voters, to likewise inform them of how important you believe the issue of school funding to be. We do not wish to score political points or indeed take sides but we hope the points made below will be helpful to you in any representation that you may wish to make on the matter of school funding. The five key points that we suggest the recently elected Government need to address are:

1. To provide sufficient and fair funding.

2. To improve teacher recruitment and retention. 3. To ensure education policy is based on evidence. 4. To commit to curriculum stability. 5. To develop a long-term, shared vision for education.

The reality of the cuts that all of our schools are having to make means that, collectively as Waltham Forest Head teachers, we are each having to address the following challenges:

 Reduction in extra-curricular activities as the increased workload on teachers genuinely restricts their ability to contribute to these additional but essential activities.  Reduction in teacher numbers, resulting in a rise in class sizes.  Restricted GCSE and ‘A’ Level choice as the potential breadth of subjects is reduced.  Less opportunities for out of class learning.  Less well maintained buildings as schedules for decoration have to be extended.  Reduced in-class support for students from additional members of staff.

Please be assured that as your school leaders, we remain determined to provide the very best education for your children. However, we feel duty bound to inform you of the challenges that we collectively face in trying to do so.

Yours faithfully,

Name Signature School

Shahina Ahmad Eden School for Girls

Elaine Colquhoun Whitefield Schools

Meryl Davies School for Girls

Phil Grundy

Emma Hillman Headteacher designate, Heathcote School

George Mitchell School Saeed Hussain

Julian Lee Hawkswood Group

Chingford and Rushcroft Foundation Mark Morrall Schools

Kelmscott School

Lynnette Parvez

Lammas School and Sixth Form Shona Ramsay Belmont Park Special School

Bruce Roberts Belmont Park Special School

Willowfield Humanities College Clive Rosewell

Jenny Smith

Grainne Smyth

Andy Stone Holy Family Catholic School

Sally Walker Connaught School for Girls

Buxton School Kath Wheeler

YEAR 10 PARENTS’ MEETING

This meeting is on Thursday 13th July 2017 from 4.30 to 7.00 p.m.

On arrival, you will receive your child’s full written Year 10 report and the results of the Year 10 exams held in June.

You will have an opportunity to speak to your child’s subject teachers and Tutor.

This Parents’ meeting is extremely important for you and your child.

After this meeting, we will be deciding which classes your child will be in for

Year 11 in English, Maths and Science and which tier of entry for GCSE in several subjects (Higher tier and Foundation tier).

You will also find out whether your child is up to date with essential coursework and controlled assessments which will affect the final GCSE grades.

Please give yourself plenty of time to see all the staff you need to see. The meeting must finish at 7.00 p.m. and there are always queues to see teachers in the core subjects: English, Maths and Science.

I look forward to seeing you on the 13th July.

Brent Payne Deputy Headteacher

The Year 9 School Of Hard Knocks Rugby Team have just been crowned champions. The boys won an enthralling and exciting match against Bacons College (Southwark) 63-27 on Friday 16th June 2017. The match took part on the World Famous Allianz Park home of the London Saracens. Mr Thorbourne and Mr Thompson who had never watched the group train or play before were most impressed and have waxed lyrical ever since and feel that some of the boys could possibly even make it pro. A special shout out to Captain on the day Jah’Heim Richards (Green 4) for his outstanding leadership qualities, he led by example and really got the team playing even contributing to our Tries during the match. Other Try scorers included Hubert (Red 2), Luke Webb (Black 2), Gelito Mata (Blue 4), Jonathan Vandyck (Yellow 5), Tyrell Small (Black 2), Le’Qwan Bigby-Loton (Black 1) and Alfie Scarborough (Black 5).

The boys have been part of the School of Hard Knocks (SOHK) since September this year and for some this has been their first introduction to playing the sport. SOHK is a charity set up in 2012 and they work with schools with the aim to help students:

 Grow in confidence,  Take personal responsibility for their lives and actions.  Experience the value of team work and diversity.  Learn the value of respect: both of others and of themselves.  Realise their own potential.

“I enjoyed the experience of playing on a professional pitch and scoring some tries or the team. I felt although all of the boys couldn’t make it those that came made a good example of themselves and done the team proud.” – Tyrell Small

Mr Cato Student Support Team Leader

On Friday 23rd June, students from Year 9 had the fantastic opportunity to present their poetry film ‘Belonging’ at the British Film Institute on the Southbank. The students who were involved in the Critical Connections Project, run by Miss Hirsch, in collaboration with Goldsmiths University, have been working really hard all year on a multilingual digital story for the BFI.

Miss Hirsch and Mr Thompson accompanied the group of Year 9 students and their helper from Year 12 to the famous cinema for the film awards. This event was attended by every school involved in the project from the UK, with representatives from schools across the world, such as schools in Taiwan and Cyprus. Miss Hirsch was invited to open the awards with her own poem on the theme of belonging, called Heritage. Then Lammas were the first school to present their film.

Five of the students introduced the film and did a brilliant job of confidently and eloquently talking about their experience making a spoken word film. Then the film was shown to the audience and the students were presented with medals and certificates from Anna Carlisle, one of the researchers from Goldsmiths. A special mention was given to Berfin, the student researcher, for creating a fantastic poster (with help from the group).

The group then watched the films from the other schools and learnt about cultures from across the globe and their different experiences of belonging.

The students involved made Miss Hirsch and Lammas extremely proud. They were fantastic ambassadors for the school and the feedback for the film was really positive. Everyone was really impressed with the Lammas film and found it moving and enjoyable.

These students have worked so hard and they deserve every compliment they get. They were so good that they even got to try some new virtual reality at the BFI as a treat before they made their way home.

Well done to all involved!

Miss Hirsch Spoken Word

Sixth Form Induction On Thursday 29th June, we held our annual Sixth Form induction where we invited all prospective Sixth Form students to come in for the day. Students experienced a full range of lessons in many different subjects, met their future teachers, met the Director of Sixth Form and their future tutor group. All the students looked really smart as they came in business dress for the day. Students commented that the day was really enjoyable as they were able to experience a Sixth Form style lesson and were also given some summer homework to help them with the transition into Year 12. There were also lots of positive comments from the teachers running the sessions who are really looking forward welcoming our new cohort in September. We wish all students the best of luck for GCSE results day and we look forward to seeing you on our Enrolment Day – 24 August. Special “Thank you” to all the teachers who led excellent sessions and the student helpers! Mr Eley Director of Sixth Form

If you and your parents want to learn a language or improve a language, you can now download Rosetta Stone learning programme at a discounted price of £149. What is more, once you install it, five members of your family can have individual accounts on one programme! Learn English, French, German or any other of the numerous languages that Rosetta Stone offers.

Ms Piorkowska EAL Department

Computing After-School

Coding club will be starting up again on Mondays from 15:15 – 16:15 in ICT1, Year’s 7- 10 welcome and we’ll be starting by improving your coding skills through python challenges, as we move through the year we’ll also start to experiment with robotics. Whether you’re comfortable with Python, Scratch or haven’t tried any coding before, Coding Club is a great way to learn new skills

Year 7 and 8 needing help with their computing homework can now use ICT2 on Mondays 15:15 – 16:15 with Ms Nel. Use this time to complete any work you struggle with and find hard to complete at home.

Cooking Club Learn Key Life Skills

Year 7 and 8 students are welcome to join us every Wednesday 3:10— 4:10 pm in the Food room (only 20 students per session) Please see Miss Folkes for more information

How to Complete Free School Meal Application via the Website Please use a computer to complete this form and not an IPad

Go to www.walthamforestfreeschoolmeals website Choose the ‘Apply for Free School Meals’ Click the icon which says ‘click here to begin filling in the form’ You will then be taken to the Application Form page Follow instructions on the left hand side of the page Answer all questions which are applicable to you on each page and press Next on the left hand side of the form There are 5 pages to complete. Please ensure that you tick  the box on the last page. The form should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete. An acknowledgement email will be sent to you after completion

NEED HELP WITH HOMEWORK? ATL YEAR 11 INTERVENTION

Homework Club Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 3.00 – 4.00pm.

Who? Years 7 to 13 Where? ATL room We can help you to get ahead! Our team has expertise across all areas! You are guaranteed to get the right help!