150 Seymour Road, Leyton, London E10 7LX Website: www.lammas.waltham.sch.uk Email: [email protected] Tel: 020 8988 5860 / Fax: 020 8988 5861 Friday 16th November 2018 ISSUE NO: 378 Head’s Corner In this edition of the newsletter, just like many other editions, you will see several examples of Lammas students being offered – and taking up – great opportunities provided by the school. For example, there are articles and information about expanding our students’ horizons in a variety of sports, on the stage in a professional theatre and in school meeting an eminent Professor of Cardiology. In all that we do, we want to provide an insight for our students into the world beyond school to ensure our girls and boys grow up to have choices and take their place in their world as confident and caring citizens with a great deal to contribute. If each opportunity we provide inspires one student about their future aspirations and pathway, we are delighted. The Shakespeare Schools Festival is a unique opportunity that provides a great way for students to learn the language, themes and context of Shakespeare’s wonderful writing. It also enables students to meet new people, learn about the craft of performance from actors in workshops and in the theatre, make new friends and find a new passion. The opportunity to perform on a professional stage could be a once in a lifetime opportunity! It was great to be in the audience at Stratford Circus last week and witness the product of the hard work put into this by our students, supported by Mr Daintry, Ms Ferguson and Ms King. I was very proud of every one of them and thrilled about the excitement they felt! Please see the article in a few pages for the names of all the participants. All the hard work by students and staff to focus on improving levels of attendance is really paying off now as we see percentages rise regularly. Congratulations to everyone who manages to get to school every day, and to battle through any minor ailments to show dedication to your studies. It is now only 2 weeks until the Year 13 students start their Pre-Public Exams – an important milestone in their preparation for their final A level papers. We know you are working hard but I want to add another reminder about making the very most of the time you have in school and out of school for additional support, intervention and revision. Good luck with your exam preparations! Year 11s also begin their practical exams soon – in 4 weeks’ time, or 20 school days, in PE, Art, Food Technology. Then, a very short time after this, the written PPEs begin. These are now only 30 school days away (even though you have the Christmas holidays as a break). Now is the time to make the most of the support and advice from your teachers and Tutor to get on top of your own revision, fill any gaps in your knowledge, go back over difficult concepts or topics – and build your confidence. If you have any questions about this, do not hesitate to ask someone for help – your Intervention teacher, your Tutor, your SPL, your subjects teacher, or a friend. Best wishes, Shona Ramsay Headteacher Attendance- Monday 5th October to Friday 9th November Number of students Number of students with 100% Overall attendance per with 100% BEST attending tutor attendance since the team since the start of attendance last groups for the week start of the academic the academic year week year BLACK 42 73 Black 1 – 96.7% 95.3% BLUE 34 77 Blue 4 – 94.8% 94.6% GREEN 36 85 Green 3- 98.5% 95.1% RED 54 93 Red 4- 94.8% 95.2% YELLOW 42 84 Yellow 5 – 96.7% 95.6% 208 412 95.2% A Lammas our attendance has dropped quite significantly… We have moved away from the precious Green zone! We’ve gone down this week from to this week. We now have a lot of work to do to get that figure back up. Our elite ‘Blue BRAG’ group of students (those with 100% attendance since their start date or the start of the year) has also dropped quite considerably this week; from 271 to 208 students. Hang on to your Sapphire Attendance Lammas! If you have a day off, you lose it. 1) Black 1 are the winners of the title for the tutorial with the best overall attendance percentage last week with 96.7%. Well done Ms Chirimuuta and tutorial for the second week running! 2) Red Team is the new title holder for the most students with 100% attendance last week with 93 students. Possibly one of our lowest totals to date though… 3) Red Team holds on to the title for the Team with the highest number of 100% attendees since the start of the year, with 54 students! AND SO, THE BATTLE FOR THE TEAM WITH THE BEST OVERALL ATTENDANCE CONTINUES… The title for BEST TEAM ATTENDANCE since the start of the academic year stays with Yellow Team for the fifth consecutive week. With an overall total of 95.6%! Black Team are still very close behind with 95.3%!! 100% Outstanding 96-99% Good 91-95% Requires Improvement <90% Cause for Concern Punctuality Please can we remind all students and parents that school (and therefore lessons) start at 8:30 am. Students are expected to be on the school premises for 8:25am at the latest but BEFORE the first bell. It is NOT APPROPRIATE to be arriving at 8:30 am or indeed after that time. Students who arrive late are expected to attend a break time detention and those who are repeatedly late will receive longer detentions and additional sanctions. Please RESPECT our school hours and get here on time. Uniform In accordance with our school Learning Charter we would like to remind students that they should attend school in full uniform, and dressed in a ‘business-like’ fashion. - Shirts should be tucked in. We shouldn’t have to keep asking… - Ties should be worn long, not very short. - Trousers must be blue, not black - Trainers are not permitted in school except in PE class - Blazers should be worn at all times - Hoodies, if seen worn instead of blazers (or underneath blazers) will be confiscated - Jewellery is not permitted (with the exception of a sensible watch and one pair of stud earrings in the ear-lobes. Behaviour for Learning and Mutual Respect SHAKESPEARE SCHOOLS FESTIVAL MACBETH Last Wednesday 20 students from Lammas performed their production of Macbeth on stage at the Stratford Circus Theatre as part of the national Shakespeare Schools Festival. Stratford Circus is a professional theatre and the production played to a packed audience. The students had been rehearsing in school since early last half term and have shown great commitment and dedication to the play, including attending rehearsals in half term and on Saturday. Their performance was outstanding and they did the school proud. The play was attended by staff from Lammas, who had these comments to make: “It was fantastic to see the students embody their roles – it was clear that a lot of hard work was put in and I really enjoyed the performance!” (Ms Meza) “It was a fantastic performance that was pulled off by a bunch of hard working and talented students. They should be very proud of themselves. I was very impressed and absolutely delighted to have gotten the chance to see everyone do so well!” (Mr Berkeley) I was very proud of the cast and delighted to see how much they enjoyed the experience. Huge congratulations to them all: Tanae Bixby, Roksana Ochedalska, Ioana Popa, Enje Sewell, Stevie Shannon, Ky-Mani Ballie, Tashae Harriott, Chaney Bourne, Darren Esuka, Safiyah Bugtti, Mounia Lakhal, Kadaisha Smith, Cristian Gherman, Dontae Gayle, Halle Herdsman, Dominique Griffiths, Angel Heron, Aurona Ujkaj, Daniel Dutulescu, Lilly Eade. Special thanks to Rida Imaan, who was unable to perform at Stratford but who came to all the rehearsals and worked very hard with us throughout. Mr Daintry Lammas School and Sixth Form Communication Arrangements Important information for Parents and Carers Paperless school - Year 7 Trial Over the past few months the school has been running this advert encouraging parents and carers to sign up to and use the My Ed app, which is used as a means of quickly informing and updating parents and carers of any issues affecting their child in school. The app which is free is the most cost effective, quick, easy and secure way to keep you informed of issues generally but more importantly enables us to inform you of any particular issues that may be affecting your child straight to your mobile phone. From 1st January 2019 as part of a trial school communication, Year 7 students will only be sent out information using the My Ed app. There will be no more paper letters to parents and carers and should the trial progress as expected the whole school will go paperless from 1st March 2019. It is therefore important that all parents and carers download and start using the My Ed app now by going to www.myedschoolapp.com or by visiting the school office, between 8:30 am and 4:00 pm Monday to Thursday and 8:30 am to 3:30 pm Friday, where we would be happy to help you sign up. By moving to this paperless system we will be saving money that can be better used on your child’s education and it will enable us to communicate with you much more quickly and effectively.