Mr Wilding has sent a start-of-term update to parents and carers covering RAAC, exam results, staffing, uniform, term dates, safeguarding and free school meals.
To all parents/carers
Good afternoon, from LCS.
I hope you have all had an enjoyable summer and that students are all getting prepared for the start of term, on Wednesday 6th September.
We are excited to be welcoming all our students back to school this week, and we would extend a particular welcome to those students joining us in Year 7 and Year 12, as well as their parents and carers.
As usual, at this time, I have a few updates, as well as reminders, for all our parents and carers, ahead of the start of the academic year.
Schools with RAAC
Many parents/carers will be aware of recently issued new DfE guidance for education settings (August 31st), advising that any space or area with confirmed Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) should no longer be open without mitigations in place. The vast majority of schools and colleges will be unaffected by this change but 50+ settings have already been supported and a further 104 further settings without mitigations in place have been asked to vacate spaces or buildings.
At this stage, I can confirm that LCS is not one of the schools contacted to vacate spaces or buildings and that all students should start term on Wednesday 6th September, at 8-40am. If I receive further information on this issue, I will communicate this to parents/carers, as soon as possible.
Exam Results
We are absolutely delighted with the results our students have achieved this year, at both A Level and GCSE.
Results at LCS this year, at both A Level and GCSE, are very close to those achieved by students in 2022, against a national picture where all schools were told to expect results to drop to 2019 levels.
At A Level, nearly 30% of all grades were either A* or A and nearly 90% were between A* and C.
Our Year 11 students also performed exceptionally well, with 80% of students achieving at least a Grade 4 and 61% of students achieving at least a grade 5, in both GCSE English and Maths. Overall, over 50% of GCSE grades achieved were grade 6, or above.
Significantly, our Progress 8 figure (a value-added measure, which measures students' results compared to other students nationally with similar starting points) may end up being the highest we have ever achieved; this figure will be verified later in the Autumn Term.
Given the disruption our students had faced throughout their courses over the last 2 years, these results were even more impressive and are a testament to their motivation and resilience, as well as the positive partnership between our school and our parents/carers.
Al our students deserve great credit and we wish them well in the next phase of their academic career.
Changes to school staff
As always, at the end of any academic year, several staff have left LCS and new staff will be joining us this week.
Mrs L Wilson (Assistant Headteacher) left us at the end of the last academic year and Mr M Pestell was appointed to our Senior Leadership Team, as our new Head of Key Stage 3 and Designated Teacher for Looked After Children.
Mr G Wilson has been appointed as our new Head of Year 9, to replace Mr Pestell.
There are several changes to our Pastoral and Form Tutor teams for the new school year, which were emailed to parents/carers by Mr McElhone at the end of last term. To clarify for all parents/carers, our new Pastoral Management structure is as follows:
- Year 7 – Mr J Woods (Head of Year) Miss R Freeman (Assistant Head of Year)
- Year 8 – Mr K Bowler (HOY) Mr H Boot (AHOY)
- Year 9 – Mr G Wilson (HOY) Mrs T Matthews (AHOY)
- Year 10 – Mr M Moses (HOY) Mrs A Flinders (AHOY)
- Year 11 – Ms S Doran (Head of Year) Mr T Nichol (AHOY)
- Sixth Form – Mr R Archer (Head of Centre) Mr V D'Elia (AHOC) Mrs S Senior (Senior Tutor)
School uniform
To avoid any issues at the start of the new school year, I would like to remind all parents/carers of our School Uniform policy, which can be found at the following link:
I would particularly like to remind parents/carers that students must wear shoes to school, rather than trainers, and that students should not have lines shaved into hair/eyebrows.
Towards the end of last term there were some students arriving in school with 'scratch lines' cut into their hair, which they claimed were put in by the hairdresser/barber without being requested. If your child is having/has had a hair cut ahead of the new term, please make sure they do not have these 'scratch lines' put in, as this is against school rules.
Term Dates
As in the past, requests for leave of absence during term time will not be authorised, unless the circumstances for this request are exceptional. To help parents/carers with planning and booking of holidays, our term dates are published below:
Regular attendance remains one of the most significant factors in ensuring that students achieve their best in school, both academically and socially, and I would respectfully ask that all parents/carers support us in expecting all students to attend school each day, unless absent through illness or other, unavoidable, circumstances.
Punctuality is hugely important, also, as students lose vital lesson time when late to school and often do not arrive in the right frame of mind for learning if they are late. I would respectfully ask all parents/carers to support us in ensuring your child(ren) arrive at school for registration at 8-40am each morning. Please be aware that the roads around the school site are often congested at the start of the school day, so please take this into account when planning your journey and respect the safety of all our students, as well as our local residents, when dropping/picking up students from school.
Key Safeguarding information
The safety of all our students is our number one priority and there is a comprehensive list of relevant safeguarding information and links on our safeguarding page, below:
As I regularly informed parents and carers throughout the last academic year, a significant number of our behaviour and safeguarding issues with students, including reasons for student suspensions from school, were related to possession/use of vape, and issues caused by posts made by students on social media. These are society problems, as well as school issues, and we cannot tackle them alone, without the support of parents and carers.
As I requested throughout the last academic year, I would once again ask all parents/carers to monitor their child's use of social media, particularly Instagram and TikTok, where most of our issues occur.
I would also respectfully, once again, ask parents/carers to be aware of the significant issue of vaping amongst young people across society and the significant problems this is causing in schools. Please discuss this issue with your child and do not assume they are not involved in vaping, as a growing number of young people are, and continue to be. Vapes should not be sold to anyone under the age of 18 and if parents/carers are aware of shops/websites selling vapes to children, this should be reported to Trading Standards.
Free School Meals
Parents/carers of students eligible for Free School Meals should apply for this via Derby City Council, at the link, below:
We would encourage all parents/carers to apply if eligible and to contact Derby City Council if you have any questions about your child(ren)'s eligibility for Free School Meals.
I plan to continue with my weekly email updates for parents/carers this year, but there are a couple of school events to inform you of now, which are our School Open Day, on 12th October, and Sixth Form Open Evening, on 26th October. Please add these dates to your diary and I will update you with further details nearer the time.
Thank you for your continued support of our school and I look forward to working with you all again in the year ahead.
Keep safe.
J. Wilding
Headteacher