I LEARN TERM 2 FOCUS: LITERACY 15th December 2017

A message from the Headteacher:

It has been a very festive week at Lawn Manor! Our first ‘Festive Banquet’ was a roaring success with fantastic food and some live entertainment from our very own Mr Langdown! A new tradition for Lawn Manor. We also had a great evening of entertainment last night at our Christmas Concert, where we were treated to an array of festive entertainment from our music and dance departments.

Our community is very important for us at Lawn Manor and I have been humbled by the response to our shoe

box appeal – it has been tremendous and the contents will make it more special for local people who will benefit as the donations are going to the charity, Christmas Care . Amazing, well done. We are also supporting Swindon Food Bank on the last day of term, with our 50p contributions for non-uniform / Christmas Jumper Day, this is another worthy local charity.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Sandra Muir Headteacher

Christmas Lunch Last Day of Term – Tuesday 19th December

We held our first Lawn Manor Academy Christmas We finish for the Christmas Holidays next Tuesday dinner on Wednesday. Pupils that had booked 19th December at 12.20pm. Packed lunches will be enjoyed a traditional Christmas lunch served by the provided for pupils in receipt of free school meals.

staff, festive music and Christmas crackers. There was Christmas Jumper Day also entertainment provided by some of our musicians and Mr Langdown, never one to shy away from the We are holding a non-uniform Christmas jumper/top microphone, treated us all to a few Christmas tunes! themed day in exchange for a 50p donation, which will be donated to the Swindon Food Bank.

Shoe Box Appeal

Shoe Thank you to all pupils who helped with our ‘ box for Christmas’ appeal in aid of Christmas Care Swindon. Christmas Care Swindon are a local charity that supports the homeless and most vulnerable by providing food, warmth & hospitality over Christmas.

The Headteacher’s Newsletter Weekly Each I LEARN group were asked to fill up a shoe box with items that will help the homeless over this Christmas period. We collect just over 200 boxes!

No Cash Payments at the Canteen

From January the Canteen and the Pod will no longer be accepting cash payments at their tills. All pupils will need to use the fingerprint cash loader system or ParentPay.

How to contact us: Telephone: 01793 487286 www.lawnmanor.org Attendance: 01793 427749 Student Services: 01793 Email: [email protected] @lawn_manor 427755

Christmas Concert

We held our first Lawn Manor Academy Christmas Concert last night. Families and friends were treated to an evening of festive music and entertainment provided by our talented pupils from the music and dance departments.

Meet Our Team

This week: Mr Justin Delap, Assistant Headteacher I began working at this school in 2013 as Director of MFL. Languages and food have been my passions for many years: prior to teaching, which I have done for 14 years, I was a chef for 6 years during and after leaving university. Life as a teacher has been hugely rewarding and I have found the opportunity to share my love of Spanish and French an absolute privilege. It is quite something to begin to see the world through the language and culture of a different country, and putting young people on the path to this kind of experience has proved very exciting. Trips abroad, music, culture, history and art are all part of the magic of learning another language.

Since 2016 I have been Assistant Headteacher working on ensuring that we have learning as our number one priority – for pupils, teachers and leaders at the school. Lawn Manor Academy is proud of being a learning institution where everybody wants to be the best that they can: inspiring and creating futures for all.

Miss Charlotte Fox, Year 8 Leader I began working in schools in 2014 as a Teaching Assistant at in Swindon. I enjoyed supporting pupils within the classroom and then started to find further ways to support the students in their everyday lives. I helped run the Young Carers group and a lunch club for more vulnerable students in the school. This is where my interest in pastoral support began. Looking for a new challenge and a more pastoral focused role, I joined what was then

The Headteacher’s Newsletter Weekly Churchfields as a Learning Mentor in May 2017 and my current role is Year Leader for Year 8. I enjoy supporting pupils with any issues that may arise and the fact that every day is different and never boring!

PTA Needed

Science Revision Guides Due to the school closure on Monday, the first Lawn Manor Academy PTA AGM will now be held on The deadline for ordering Science revision guides Tuesday 9th January at 4pm. We need to find people through ParentPay for students in Year 9,10 and 11 to fill the roles of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer at th has been extended to Friday 5 January. If you are this meeting in addition to willing members of the unable to use ParentPay, please contact Sue Brown PTA committee. All parents and carers are invited to in Finance on 01793 487286 option 4 or attend to help us start to raise funds for the school. [email protected] If you have any questions please contact Mr Delap via phone or email on [email protected]

Beautiful Swindon Photo Competition

Pupils across the Academy have been out taking 1st Place: Stamford Ballard (Year 10) was awarded photos of beautiful locations in Swindon for our 100 House points for Fitzroy & 2 cinema vouchers ‘Beautiful Swindon’ House competition. We have been inundated with some amazing photos and enthusiasm from our pupils. They have shown us the fantastic town that Swindon is through their creative photos. The top three photos were chosen by our Senior Leadership Team and awarded with a generous number of house points.

Round 2 of this competition is now open and we are

looking forward to seeing some more beautiful photos + of our town. Here is Mr Koza’s entry!

2nd Place: Michael French (Year 11) was awarded 50 House points for Fitzroy

Sports Fixtures this Week

We are delighted to have a full house for the Swindon Schools basketball semi-finals. We have teams in Years 8 – 11 competitions, which puts us in the top 4 schools for basketball in Swindon. This is an 3rd Place: Kallum Thompson (Year 7) was awarded incredible achievement so well done to all 25 House points for Goddard concerned. Roll on the Finals!

Last night the year 8s won convincingly beating Ridgeway 39 points to 8. All members of the squad contributed and it was an excellent all round performance. The Year 8 team face Ridgeway again in the semi-final in the New Year. The other semi- finalists are yet to be confirmed.

The Headteacher’s Newsletter Weekly Dates for your Diary: Wednesday 3rd January 2018 INSET Day, school closed to pupils Thursday 4th January 2018 Term 3 starts at 8.40am Tuesday 9th January 2018 PTA Meeting at 4pm – ALL WELCOME Thursday 8th February A reminder: We finish for the Christmas Holidays next th Year 11 Parents’ Evening Tuesday 19 December at 12.20pm.

15th December 2017

Dear Parent/Carer

We are about to go into the Christmas break having seen many changes at our school over the last two terms. I want to take this opportunity to let you know what the Governing Board has been doing to help make our new school a success.

We have always visited the school on a regular basis. Since we opened Lawn Manor in September these visits have continued. We have heard about the changes and we have looked at the effect they have been having. We have talked with students and teachers, we have visited classrooms and we have met the leadership team. In the classrooms we had the opportunity to assess how effective the new school policies were. We also attended Parents’ evenings and various school events, such as the Musical showcase in November.

The Governors have been delighted to see the great improvements in student behaviour and conduct that have occurred following the introduction of The Lawn Manor Way. All the evidence, including what pupils tell us, shows that behaviour in the school is much better all round. It is especially impressive to see the very large reduction in the number of students who arrive late for school. Thank you for all your support in ensuring that children arrive on time for school in the morning. When we have spoken to students and teachers they tell us how important this is. Being on time in the morning, as well as for each lesson, has meant less disruption and better concentration. It also means that there is now an extra 5 to 10 minutes of teaching time in lessons. This is an enormous learning benefit for students across the entire school year. The new behaviour policy has also led to much less low-level disruption in class. Students tell us that this makes classes much better places to learn.

We have been pleased to see the introduction of a reward scheme as well as a school house system. The reward scheme recognises the good things that each student is doing. Many of you will have received calls and letters from the school telling you how well your own child has been performing. The school houses are promoting a sense of community as well as friendly competition. We think the new recognition scheme and the house system have both got off to a very good start.

School is not just about exams and academic progress. It is brilliant to see so many more students taking part in clubs and other activities, including sports and dance. Students have been taking part in a range of exciting events like the recent Literature Festival week, as well as different competitions between schools. It has been great to see the announcements in this newsletter about the successes of our students and the awards they have won. We’re very proud of everyone who gets involved in these enriching activities and of those who compete on behalf of Lawn Manor.

You will know that earlier in the year we joined with Royal Wootton Bassett Academy to form a new multi- academy trust. This has been a great benefit. The schools learn from and support each other. Sandra Muir and staff from across the school actively collaborate and share best teaching and learning practise with the team from RWBA. We know that there are going to be many new opportunities for both our students and our staff from working together in the multi academy trust.

Lawn Manor Academy – Inspiring and Creating Futures for All

Proud to be part of the Royal Headteacher: Sandra Muir / CEO: George Croxford Wootton Bassett Academy Trust Salcombe Grove, Swindon, , SN3 1ER Company Number: 07569743 T. 01793 487286 E. [email protected] W. lawnmanor.org

The Governing Board would like to thank Sandra Muir and her entire staff for their hard work and commitment in the launching of Lawn Manor. The many improvements we can see in school performance are testimony to their dedication to our vision of inspiring futures for all.

We also want to thank all of you parents and carers for your support. You have helped to give Lawn Manor a very successful start during its first two terms. If you want to help in other ways, let me remind you that there are many ways you can do so. We would be delighted to welcome parents and carers onto our Governing Board. The PTA would also be very pleased if you wanted to join them or support their activities. Please contact Jenny Lowe on [email protected] if you would like to know more about either of these opportunities.

Very best wishes for a peaceful and happy festive break with your families. We look forward to a successful 2018.

Jane Hext Chair of Governors