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150 Seymour Road, Leyton, London E10 7LX Tel: 020 8988 5860 / Fax: 020 8988 5861 Website: www.lammas.waltham.sch.uk Friday 4th March 2016 ISSUE NO: 384 Email: [email protected] Governor’s Corner Well it’s the first week of March and Spring has nearly arrived according to the weather people, yet I wonder if they know what they are talking about as they predict snow showers in the next few days! But I see the cherry trees are coming into blossom and the daffodils were resplendent for St David’s Day so the Easter holidays will soon arrive and it will nearly be public exam time too, this year seems to have flashed bye so far and I sometimes struggle to keep pace. I am delighted to be able to tell you that we have a new Parent Governor; Ms Babs Pierre who has a son in Year 7 and we hope a daughter joining us in September in the next Year 7. She is a welcome addition to our school Governors, joining us with lots of experience of school governorship in the LB of Newham. I’m sure everyone will join me in welcoming her and we look forward to her future contributions to making Lammas even better. I have to, with some personal sadness, inform you that former Councillor and Mayor of Waltham Forest, Mr Tarsem Bohgal has tendered his resignation from the Governing Body with immediate effect. His resignation is prompted by personal circumstances and I have on behalf of the Governors accepted his resignation whilst thanking him for his time and effort that he has put into helping the school aspire to its potential. This puts us in a position that we will have to fill some Governor vacancies but it is my intention to advise the Governing Body to wait until later in the year to do so. One of the strengths the school Governing Body has is its size and the individual commitment each of your Governors put in (like meetings at 8 o’clock in the morning). This means that our activities and ability to operate are not compromised by holding one or two vacancies. I said last time I would update you on what the Governors have been doing this year, well there has been a lot going on. Firstly there has been a full cycle of Governing Body and Governor Committee meetings since January through which we have continued to monitor and challenge Lammas to continue to work for even better achievement for our pupils. Secondly, we have reviewed nearly all the roles and functions of the Governors Committees and agreed terms of reference, continued to review in detail, with reports from Curriculum Leaders, at least two subject areas a term and have been planning for the future. In addition to this the Governors have been back to school on several occasions this term to work together to complete the Governors’ Action Plan and ensure our preparations for Ofsted are as robust as we can make them. I joined Ms Ramsay at the last training day to talk with the staff about the future for our school and how we might enable all the staff to contribute and be part of planning our way forward in the light of the Prime Ministers statement that all secondary schools should become Academies before 2020. It was agreed that some Governors would join with a voluntary group of school staff to facilitate a group to investigate and look at the options for the school. This group has now met on two occasions after school, proposing to meet further as details firm up. So far the group has looked at the pros and cons of options from doing nothing to how we could best become an Academy yet still retain our independence and commitment to the local community and the ethos and philosophy that Lammas has developed over the past years. This has inevitably led us to take on further work some of which I am tasked to do. Hopefully I will be able to come back to the Governing Body and the school after Easter with some realistic proposals for us to consider. We will then share them once the Governing Body has agreed the course of action we think the school should take. The term is very short and I just realised that the next Governors corner I write will be after Easter so I just want to finish off by giving our best wishes and encouragement to all our pupils preparing to take public exams after Easter – time and sacrifice now will bring its just rewards when the results come out. I also want to again thank the school staff for their hard work and dedication to our pupils. And finally to extend my best wishes to you all for a joyous Easter which after all is the major Christian holiday of the year with its message of hope and light. Yours as ever Ted Cooke Chair of Governors YEAR 8 – KEY STAGE 4 OPTIONS FOR SEPTEMBER 2016 Year 8 students are about to choose which subjects they wish to take for their Key Stage 4 qualifications. Options Assemblies started on Monday 22nd February and took place every day throughout last week. Students were handed the Curriculum Handbook on Friday 26th February to take home, which contains information about all Options subjects. Please discuss with your child what would be the best option subjects for him/her to choose. The Options Evening for Parents and Students is on Thursday 10th March, starting at 4.00 p.m. and finishing at 7.00 p.m. Students will collect their Options Application form on arrival and will need to have it signed and collected by a senior member of staff before they leave. This is one of the most important Parents’ Meetings of the year and we look forward to seeing all of you there on Thursday 10th March. Brent Payne Deputy Headteacher YEAR 12 OPPORTUNITIES Please see below for a range of offers and opportunities for Year 12 Students: Trip to USA by the Transformation Trust Open to: Sixth Form Students Deadline: Thursday 24th March 2016 The Transformation Trust is delighted to be offering a truly once-in-a- lifetime work experience opportunity for Sixth Form students. Inspire US 2016 will see 20 Sixth Formers from five different schools travel to the US to be campaign interns for the final two weeks of the US elections. Working in the swing state of Florida, the students will work alongside seasoned political campaigners from both national parties. For more information, please visit: http://www.transformationtrust.org.uk/news/ Free University Residential at the University of Lancaster Our Summer Schools give students the opportunity to work with Lancaster academics and current students in order to expand their subject knowledge and to develop key transferable skills. We are proud to be a campus-based collegiate University and students will be encouraged to take an active part in their given college, meet and make new friends. Also, Sixth Formers will get involved in exciting sports and social activities that make up part of the Lancaster student experience. The Summer Schools available this year are listed below: Study Biochemistry and Biomedicine (4th – 8th July 2016) Study Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (4th – 8th July 2016) - Subject options: English Language & Linguistics, English Literature & Creative Writing, History, Law & Criminology, Religious Studies and Sociology. Study Business and Management (24th – 28th July 2016) - Subject Options: Accounting & Finance, Business Studies/Management, Economics and Marketing. Study Science and Technology (24th – 28th July 2016) - Subject Options: Chemistry, Computer Science, Geography & Environmental Science Mathematics & Statistics, Physics and Psychology. ULAS Year 12 remember to check into your ULAS account in order to look at work experience placements and profiles. On offer are opportunities with: Price Waterhouse Coopers Tesco Mobile Nationwide BBC VCCP UCL – Physics work EY Skills Academy KEW House of Commons REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE A 2 WEEK WORK EXPERIENCE/INTERNSHIP TO ORGANISE FOR JULY Queen Mary University London Talks and Events Magic, Folk Medicine, Drugs and Chemistry – Talk by Professor Keith Jones (Institute of Cancer Research) Thursday 25th February 2016 (2.00 – 4.00pm); Let’s Talk Heart! – Tuesday 15th March 2016 (3.00 – 5.00pm); Unclaimed Territories in the Clouds: Where are the Limits to Internet Jurisdiction? Professor Julia Hornle – 24th February 2016 (6.30 – 8.30pm); Bart’s and Queen Mary Science Festival Wednesday 6th July 2016 (10.30am – 3.00pm). Please check your inbox for all opportunities or see Mr Eley Mr Eley Director of Sixth Form ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY Number of 100% Best attending tutor Most punctual tutor Overall attendance last Team Attenders last week groups group week Blue 114 Blue 3, 99.05% Blue 3, 99.50% 94.30% Black 116 Black 1, 100.00% Black 2, 98.64% 94.40% Red 113 Red 1, 96.50% Red 2, 98.64% 94.00% Yellow 110 Yellow 2, 98.00% Yellow 2&6, 99.50% 94.70% Green 108 Green 7, 97.14% Green 4, 98.18% 94.70% 561 Last week: 97.01% Last week: 94.48% Overall: 97.33% Overall: 95.10% Although we’re still above 95%, we’re only just managing it so we all need to make a real push to be in school every day and on time from now on. Green and Yellow Teams were the top attenders last week, which made for an unusual and happy change – maybe they’ll make a bid for the top spot from now on and steal the thunder from Blue and Black Teams! Well done as always to those who came in every day – 561 of you this time – and to the vast majority who were in school and in lessons on time.