Lealands Newsnews School Newsletter | Issue 21 | December 2014 | Student Name ______Christmas 2014 Edition
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LealandsLealands NewsNews School Newsletter | Issue 21 | December 2014 | Student Name ____________________ Christmas 2014 Edition Coming Up >> End of term Friday 19th December 12.30pm Spring Term begins Tuesday 6th January 2015 Year 9 Parents’ Inside this issue: Evening Headteacher’s Introduction P2-3 Gifted & Talented Day P20-21 Wednesday School Notices P4-7 Student Voice Update P22 21st January 2015 Macmillan Coffee Morning P8 Year 7 Update P23 Dance Show Auditions P9 Christmas Shoebox Appeal P24 Presentation Evening P10-11 Christmas Food Tech Club P25 Half Term Young Chef of the Year P12-13 Blue Peris P26-27 Monday 16th Luton’s Best Awards P14-15 Sports Leaders P28 February - Friday Professor Dell Visit P16-17 Sports Ambassadors P29 20th February 2015 International Schools Update P18-19 Thinking Maps P30-31 Lealands High School, Sundon Park Road, Luton LU3 3AL Tel: 01582 611600 Fax: 01582 612227 Email:[email protected] AspireAspire BelieveBelieve AchieveAchieve www.lealands.luton.sch.uk Introduction from Headteacher - Mr Burridge It has been a long and busy term for us all and I know that both staff and students are looking forward to a very well deserved Christmas break. Year 11 students have just completed their mock exams and their attitudes and behaviour during this stressful period proved to be excellent. We are sure they will keep up the good work and go on to achieve great results in June. This year, we have introduced the attitudes to learning grades which have been shared with parents in interim reports at parents evenings. These have proved to be popular with parents and students and helped us to monitor the relationship between attitudes and progress. We are all well aware that excellent behaviour for learning goes well beyond being quiet and passive in lessons. We want to use this system to encourage our students to take greater responsibility for pushing themselves to make excellent progress. This links to our greater emphasis on thinking (see the thinking maps section in this newsletter) and students responding to the teachers’ marking in green pen. An important part of learning and preparation for the future is home learning/homework. Over the past couple of years, we have worked to ensure that parents are much better informed about home learning with Show My Homework (our online system) and that we are rigorous in our expectations. Your support is invaluable in ensuring that students complete home learning to the best of their ability and by the deadlines set. A staffed homework club is available three nights a week in the Learning Resource Centre for any student who would like to complete work at school or have the help of staff members. Please can I ask that you talk to your son/daughter about their home learning regularly and support them to complete this on time. If you have any queries or concerns, you can communicate with class teachers via the Learning Diary or telephone (somebody will get back to you within 24 hours). Tutors can also help if there are concerns which extend beyond a single subject. There are always many positives to celebrate at Lealands and, as you know, we are a school which strongly believes in acknowledging and rewarding our students when they do well. A highlight of every half term for me is a pizza lunch that I have with the two students from each year group with the highest number of achievement points from the previous half term. We are constantly rewarding students and I am really pleased that this term (so far) our students have gained a whopping 27,320 achievement points – an average of about 35 each! We are very proud of them. 2 Introduction from Headteacher - Mr Burridge As we come towards the end of term, we are all looking forward to enjoying the festive season. This includes Christmas lunches prepared by the kitchen staff for our students and staff. Senior citizens and the on-site nursery children will be well fed by our catering students and entertained by performing arts and music students. We have some lovely decorations in the school, thanks to year 7 students (and a few staff!) and assemblies with an advent theme have been led by LCET. Our annual Christmas concerts prove very popular and are another highlight of the season. Our students continue to think of others at this time of year with each tutor group preparing a hamper for the food bank and Keech Cottage. Shoe boxes have been filled and sent overseas. Toys and presents are being collected for Adenbrookes and Keech. Christmas jumpers will be worn on the 12th to support Save the Children and staff are contributing to Keech Hospice Care again this year, in lieu of sending individual cards. We certainly do a lot at Christmas and it is great that the whole school community get involved. May I take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support for me and the staff who work so hard for your children and wish you a peaceful Christmas and happy New Year. Important Dates School will be closing on Friday 19th December 2014 at 12.30pm for the Christmas period and starts again on Tuesday 6th January 2015 STAFF TRAINING DAY - Monday 5th January 2015 Term Dates Spring Term: Tuesday 6th January 2015 - Friday 27th March 2015 Half-Term: Monday 16th February - Friday 20th February 2015 Summer Term: Tuesday 14th April 2015 - Friday 17th July 2015 Half-Term: Monday 25th May - Friday 29th May 2015 Bank Holiday: Monday 4th May 2015 Year 9 Parents’ Evening: Wednesday 21st January 2015 Year 10 work experience starts: Monday 2nd February 2015 Year 11 Parents’ Evening: Wednesday 11th February 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 Technology Years 7, 8 and 9 Amsterdam 2015 Graphics Year 11 Resistant materials Years 10 and 11 Art Food Technology Year 10 Textiles Year 10 Please Remember You Can Now Pay For School Meals Online 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 page ‘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 Change To The School’s Email Address Lealands’ email address has changed. If you would like to email the school, please could you do so at the new address [email protected] Contact Information 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 student services as soon as possible either by telephone on 01582 611600 or by email to [email protected] 4 Letters To Parents Letters which have been sent home during the week, will now be available to view or download from our website every Friday on our 'Letters to Parents' page. This can be found by visitingwww.lealands.luton.sch.uk and clicking on the 'News & Events' tab. Exam Equipment We will not be lending equipment to students during exams. Please ensure students are prepared and come to their exams with the required equipment. Severe Weather Notice In the event of an emergency school closure, for example due to severe weather, parents/ carers will be informed by text message. If you are unsure whether you have given us an up to date mobile number, please contact the school on 01582 611600. If you do not have a mobile phone, you are advised to check the school website www.lealands.luton.sch.uk - where a message will be added to the ticker. Details of school closures will also be listed on the local government website at www.luton.gov.uk Ebola Virus - Advice for Schools Public Health England (PHE), in conjunction with the Department of Education, has produced advice for schools, colleges, childcare and residential settings to ensure the public are properly informed about the Ebola virus. Parents/carers should not be unduly worried about the possibility of their children catching the Ebola Virus. The risk of Ebola arriving in the UK is low and, to date, there have been no cases of Ebola Virus Disease being contracted in the UK. Any person arriving in the UK having travelled from any Ebola affected countries will be screened. If they are free of symptoms, they are not infectious and there should be no restrictions on their school attendance or normal activities. Ebola can only be caught by direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person who is ill with the disease. The virus is not spread by the airborne route. There is no reason why your children should not continue to attend school as normal. Further information on the Government’s response to the Ebola virus can be found on https://www.gov.uk. 5 Tetanus and Meningitis C Booster Injections A catch-up session will be held on Wednesday 28th January 2015 for any Year 10 students who have not received their Tetanus and Meningitis C boosters.