De Aston School

Willingham Road   Lincs  LN8 3RF Trust Tel 01673 843415  Fax 01673 840823 Company No 07533362 Email: [email protected] England & Wales Founded 1863

July 2017

Dear Parents and Carers

It is with great pride that I write to you as Headteacher of De Aston School. It has been a privilege to work here since 1999 and it is even more of an honour to lead the school into an exciting future. Since taking over in January, there have been many changes to improve the school even further.

You will be aware that we had an inspection earlier this year. The inspection team confirmed that De Aston is a GOOD school and has some outstanding features. We have already been working on lots of initiatives to improve what we do.

Return to One Hour Lessons From September, we will return to a model of five one hour lessons per day. This has been done to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom. The start and end of the school day remain exactly the same. There is a slightly later lunchtime, starting at 1.35pm, similar to how it was a few years ago but the learners will still get an extended break in the late morning, when they can also eat, as has always been the way at De Aston.

Standards I am a headteacher that is committed to standards of good behaviour, good attendance and a smart uniform. These are the building blocks for our learners being ready to learn. We have a new system in school called Class Charts that allows positive and negative behaviours to be recorded, tracked and analysed in a far more advanced way than ever before. This will help inform how we manage behaviour and also reward those who are doing the right things. Some may feel that, over the years, the school may not have been as robust as it should have been in ensuring uniform standards were upheld consistently. We will put that right from September. Mr Bray will be writing to all parents to clarify what is not acceptable so that all learners can come to school in September dressed correctly. He will make it clear that short skirts, skin tight trousers, jewellery etc. have not been allowed in school in a very long time and how he, and the Heads of Year, will ensure that uniform standards are upheld robustly from September.

Better Communication with Parents and Carers As well as developing Class Charts, we will also be investing in a new system called ‘Schoolcomms’, this will provide a secure app that parents can use to receive communications from the school. In addition, we will be rolling out a new and much improved website that will make it easier to find information. At the heart of good communication is still the phone call and face-to-face, we haven’t forgotten that, but we are making sure that we are a 21st century school at the same time.

Headteacher Mr S Porter Deputy Headteachers Mr M Bray  Mr P Williams

Quality of Teaching and Learning I am also passionate about developing the quality of our teaching even further to become one of the leading schools in . We are already one of the leading schools in the Lincolnshire Teaching Schools Alliance that sees our teachers training/advising other teachers and school leaders in the county. We are hosting our second annual Teach Meet evening in November, when teachers from our school present to those from other schools on new and innovative ways to improve teaching and learning. Our teaching is a real strength of the school but we are constantly seeking to improve.

School of Choice We are already the school of choice for an increasing number of families, evidenced by our largest Year 7 intake in living memory starting in September; there will be nearly 200 Year 7s joining us. Increasingly parents from out of catchment are looking to move their sons and daughters to De Aston. Our Parent View (Ofsted’s way of collecting parents’ opinions of schools) was noted by the inspector as being one of the most favourable he had seen. At the time of the inspection 100% of parents would recommend De Aston to another parent. The inspector gave the following judgements on the key areas of school:

Leadership “The headteacher and senior leaders have high expectations for your pupils and are committed to seeing each fulfil their potential.”

Skills, knowledge and understanding “You have ensured that there is a strong focus on the part of all staff to develop in the pupils the necessary knowledge, understanding and skills to achieve well.”

Pupil Progress “Pupils make good progress across most of their subjects, with high proportions of some pupil groups making more than the progress expected of them. There is rigorous and effective support from teachers and the intervention support officers.”

Spiritual, moral and cultural development and British values “You have ensured that pupils receive comprehensive opportunities to secure their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and their understanding of fundamental British values.”

Respect “Pupils demonstrated a respect for themselves, for each other and for their learning. “

Governance and leadership “Governors are ambitious for the school. They have an accurate understanding of the school. They recognise the strong leadership of the headteacher and senior leaders.”

Our Exam Results The Performance Tables identify, “There isn’t a better similar school within 75 miles”. De Aston is in the top 25% of schools nationally for progress. Those achieving a good C grade or above in GCSE English was significantly above the national average, putting De Aston’s English department into the top 10% of schools nationally for progress. Humanities and Languages were both above the Lincolnshire and national averages. Those getting a good grade in both GCSE English and Maths together was better than the Lincolnshire and national average for the last three years. We wait with interest for this year’s results given that English, English Literature and maths have all taken the new harder GCSE specifications and, like all schools, we have no indication of what will happen nationally.

Growth Mindset If you have heard me speak, you will know I am a passionate advocate for the principles of growth mindset, the notion that challenge and effort are what drive progress. It is with this philosophy that we work to eradicate the fear of failure and instead see errors and mistakes as a vital step in learning. At De Aston, we believe that no matter what your ability is, it is effort that ignites that ability and turns it into success. We are determined to equip our learners for the world ahead of them both in terms of their qualifications but also their resilience and character. We want our learners to develop a real grit, an ability to keep going and push through even when things are tough. Our focus is on a holistic education that values the full range of skills, knowledge and understanding, not only within academic qualifications but also in wider opportunities beyond the classroom. I firmly believe that young people should get involved in the extensive range of extracurricular activities we offer.

There is More to School than Exam Results This has been an incredibly impressive year for extracurricular activities. We have seen amazing sporting success throughout the year from the PE department including the signing by Leicester Tigers of one of our students on a professional contract. Duke of Edinburgh expeditions have braved the elements on expeditions. Displays of stunning artistic and photographic talent abound, including our very own Lincoln Knight gracing a city location. We had many Sixth Form charity events and a Year 13 Master Chef cooking competition. The GCSE drama students presented a powerful performance of DNA, there have been equally powerful A level performances plus a De Aston’s Got Talent competition. We have seen wonderful musical talent across a range of events but in particular our Rod ‘Thriller’ Temperton day stands out. Our learners have won the top medals in international maths challenges beating thousands from across the world. The English department gave students a chance to take part in a range of national competitions including the English Speaking Union debates and Performing Shakespeare that saw De Aston finalists performing at a top London theatre. The department’s Shakespeare Society put on a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Lincoln Drill Hall theatre, where they will also be performing Macbeth again this November. Finally, one of our Year 10 students won a prestigious Writer of the Year award at the Lincolnshire Education awards. This is just a snapshot of a growing range of events our students have been involved in. We really do believe in a holistic experience at school. All this is only possible because of the commitment of our staff.

I am blessed to be Headteacher of De Aston.

I wish you all a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you in September.

Kind regards

Simon Porter Headteacher