Lealands News School Newsletter | Issue 18 | May 2014 | Student Name ______________________ Inside this issue: Easter Bonnet Competition P12-13 A Letter from the Trenches P14 Headteacher’s Introduction P2 Science Poetry Competition P15 Parental Forum P3 Fair Trade Bake Off P16 Notices P4-5 Family Learning P17 International Links - Update P6 Year 11 Art Exam P18-19 Archbishop of Canterbury Visit P7 Tapas Evening P20 Sports News P8-9 Accelerated Reader P21 Craig McGregor Visit P10 Summer Exam Timetable P22-23 Easter Concert P10-11 Community Fun Day P24 Community Charity Coming Up Half-Term Week Sports Day Fun Day III >>> Monday 26th May - Wednesday 25th June Saturday Friday 30th May 12th July 2014 Lealands High School, Sundon Park Road, Luton LU3 3AL Tel: 01582 611600 Fax: 01582 612227 Email: [email protected] www.lealands.luton.sch.uk Aspire Believe Achieve Introduction from Headteacher - Mr Burridge Dear parents/carers, I would like to start by wishing our Year 11 students the very best of luck in their forthcoming GCSE examinations. They have all worked exceptionally hard this year and deserve every success. It will be sad to see this year group leave as they have contributed so much to the development of the school. During this term staff have already begun thinking about next year. As I am sure you are aware, there are many many changes that the Government is bringing in from September. One of the most significant is a new national curriculum. Our staff will be planning and training during the course of this term so that we are well prepared for September. Other changes to GCSEs, performance tables, assessment levels, Special Needs, GCSE grading and so on are very significant but I am confident that our excellent staff team will respond to all of these as best they can in the interests of all our students. We will be up-dating you with a range of information during the course of next academic year. At the start of this term we conducted our annual questionnaire for parents. I am pleased that the results of this have been excellent and demonstrate that most of you are extremely pleased with all aspects of the education we provide at Lealands. There were 165 responses with 40% of these coming from parents of Year 7 students. The 3% who disagreed, last year, that their chid is making good progress has been reduced to just 1%. This is excellent and shows that we are achieving very well in our main task of securing good progress. In most cases, last year’s very positive responses have been replicated this year and in many cases the proportion strongly agreeing has increased. Although the vast majority of parents believe that behaviour is excellent, there has been a slight deterioration in parents’ views of behaviour and we are looking into understanding why this is the case and what action may be needed. Thank you to all parents/carers who responded as this provides very helpful information to us. I hope you enjoy reading about the many successes and exciting activities that have been taking place so far this term. I am also looking forward to Sports Day, hosting a visit of colleagues from our partner school in India, the annual school production, the Community Fun Day and our new Lealands Experience Day at the end of term (details to follow). 2 Parental Forum On Wednesday 19th March, Mrs Bendefy, one of the school’s Assistant Headteachers, held a ? parental forum. This is an opportunity for parents ? to come together to discuss how improvements ? can be made in the school. As a group there were many discussion topics, for example, how parents’ evenings could be improved and how the communication could be improved between the school and the parents. Parents were welcomed by student leaders and we used this opportunity to generate an understanding of parents’ views about Lealands. We found that most parents were very happy with the services and teaching that the school is providing their child. However, there were some areas they felt needed improving, such as the use of learning diaries. These sessions are a great way to express any views, queries or worries that you may have about your child at school and the communication you get from the school. If you would be interested in attending our parental forum please contact Mrs Bendefy. Luke Davies Head Boy Important Dates Term Dates: Half-term: Monday 26th 2014 - Friday 30th May 2014 End of Summer Term: Friday 18th July 2014 Start of Autumn Term: Wednesday 3rd September 2014 Important Dates: Sports Day: Wednesday 25th June 2014 School Production: Wednesday 9th July - Friday 11th July, 7.30pm and Saturday 12th July, 6.30pm Community Fun Day: Saturday 12th July 2014 (See back page for more details) Lealands Experiences Day: Thursday 17th July 2014 3 Online Payments Don’t forget you can pay online using the ‘Parents Payment’ link from the homepage of our website: www.lealands.luton.sch.uk If you do not have your link code to login, please contact the school finance office on 01582 611600. Parents can pay online for the following: Voluntary Contributions Events, Trips and Visits New Summer trips Technology Years 7, 8 and 9 Amsterdam will be added once Graphics Years 10 and 11 Blue Peris the details have Resistant materials Years 10 and 11 Prom been finalised Online Payments For School Meals Are Now Available. The school prefers for all school meals to be paid for online. This gives you the flexibility to top up your child’s account at home using a debit or credit card rather than having to use cash or cheque. Access to the online payments can be found on our website using the link at the top of the homepage ‘Parents Payment’; this will take you directly to the registration/log in website. Further details and an online payments instruction manual can be found on our website: www.lealands.luton.sch.uk Contact Information For Students It is extremely important that we have up-to-date contact information for all students. Any changes to a student’s address, parental contact telephone numbers or email addresses should be passed to Mrs Lawes at the school as soon as possible either by telephone on 01582 611600 or by email to [email protected]. Scarlet Fever Advice Due to the increase in Scarlet Fever nationally, public health advice is being circulated to all schools and nurseries. A Public Health letter and fact sheet with information and frequently asked questions has been sent to all parents via email or post. A copy is also available in the letters section of our website www.lealands.luton.sch.uk. If you have any concerns please contact your G.P. 4 Coping With Hayfever Please ensure your child takes their medication before they come to school (e.g. antihistamines, eye drops, nasal sprays, etc). Spare medication may be left in the Medical Room for emergencies. All medicines held and dispensed by the medical room must be provided in their original packaging and must have a parent/carer’s written consent. Please ensure that your child has ample supplies of tissues. A little pot of Vaseline is also useful – your child can dab a little under his/her nose to provide a lubricating barrier to the constant irritation from blowing and rubbing. Miss A Maczugowska – Matron Value Of The Month 5 International Links - Update This month we received great news that we have been awarded a second round of grants by the British Council to further develop the links with our International partner schools in India and Tanzania. The International Co-ordinators in the Indian and Tanzanian schools were delighted to know that we will be able to make further teacher exchanges during the course of the school year 2013/14. We will be pleased to welcome Mr Praveen Bansal and Mr Sunil Nehra in June, from the Computer Faculty at Subodh school in India. We have continued to assist Sazira School in Tanzania with its resources; with a grant provided by the British Olympic Committee we have been able to provide volleyball equipment. The school has virtually no sports equipment so the provision of two nets and a number of volleyballs will greatly enhance what they can offer their students. Luton Futures Partnership Lealands High School belongs to a partnership of eight secondary schools in Luton, called Luton Futures. The partnership was set up in 2010 and includes; Lealands High School, Ashcroft High School, Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Challney High School for Girls, Icknield High School, Lea Manor High School, Stopsley High School and Woodlands Secondary School. By working together in the Luton Futures partnership, Lealands is able to provide its staff access to a more widespread and varied level of training, support and opportunity. This means our pupils can benefit from the increased motivation, experience and skills this offers our teachers. For more information on the Luton Futures partnership, please visit their website www.lutonfutures.co.uk or visit, ‘Like’ and share their new Facebook page for up-to-date news from all of the Luton Futures schools. 6 The Archbishop of Canterbury Visits Lealands Lealands, was extremely fortunate to have been chosen to host a visit from the Archbishop of Canterbury, accompanied by the Bishop of St Albans, in association with Luton Churches Education Trust (LCET). Lealands was chosen for the visit by LCET due to the work invested in the school to help spiritual development amongst the students. The visit took place on Thursday 27th March and on his arrival, the Archbishop was greeted by Lealands’ Head Boy and Girl; Luke Davis and Georgia Marcantonio.