LCS has a vacancy for the position of: ICT Technician

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

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:

• LCS Uniform Policy

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:

• Term Dates 2023-2024

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:

• LCS Safeguarding Information

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:

• Free School Meals application form

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

LCS Students performed excellently at the recent City Sports event, finishing 3rd overall with notable 1st place finishes for the Year 7 and Year 9 girls teams.

City Sports is a city-wide athletics event involving 14 schools.

Results for LCS students are as follows:

• Year 7 Boys - 4th
• Year 7 Girls - 1st
• Year 8 Boys - 8th 
• Year 8 Boys - 5th
• Year 9 Boys - 2nd
• Year 9 Girls - 1st - podium finished in every event
• Year 10 Boys - 3rd
• Year 10 Boys - 3rd

• Overall - Boys 5th
• Overall - Girls 2nd
• Overall position - 3rd

Well done to all students involved!

Mr Wilding has sent an end-of-term update to parents and carers regarding staff leavers, industrial action, term dates, safeguarding information, and go4schools changes.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon, from LCS.

As this is my last email update of the academic year, there are quite a few things I would like to make you aware of, related to the end of this term and the start of the new school year, in September.

I have included several links to our school website for additional information.

Staff leaving LCS at the end of this term

As usual at the end of every academic year, we have a number of staff leaving us for new challenges. The following staff will be leaving LCS at the end of this term, on Friday:

• Miss Carrondo - Languages
• Mr Bould – Wellbeing team
• Miss Pipe - Languages
• Mr Evans – History and PSHE
• Miss Antony - Maths
• Miss Scott - English
• Mrs Wilson – Assistant Headteacher

As well as staff leaving the school, we also have two staff who will begin maternity leave in September, Miss Just and Miss Richmond.

We wish all our departing staff the best of luck in the future and thank them for the work they have done for our students at LCS. We also wish Miss Just and Miss Richmond well and hope to see them in school again soon.

As well as our staff leaving us this week, Jamie Cameron will also be stepping down from his position as Chair of Governors. Jamie has lead our Governing Board through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as our recent OFSTED inspection, and his support of myself as Headteacher and the school in general has been outstanding. We thank Jamie for his work as Chair of Governors and wish him well for the future.

Industrial Action

You will no doubt be aware that the government has recently offered a 6.5% pay increase to teachers across the country. This offer has been initially welcomed by the main teaching Unions, who are recommending to their members that the offer be accepted. If this happens, future industrial action is likely to be called off, however this has not been officially announced and will not be until later this summer, or in the Autumn.

I will update you again on this issue, at the start of the new school year.

Term Dates

The new school year begins for students on Wednesday 6th September. All students will start on the same day, at the usual time of 8-40am.

Term dates for the academic year 2023/24 can be found below:

• Term Dates 2023-2024

All parents/carers should respectfully remember that requests for authorised leave during school term time will only be accepted if the reason for absence is 'exceptional' i.e the absence can clearly not be taken at any other time.

Important exam results information – for parents/carers of students in Years 11 and 13

The address below is for the section on our school website related to exam results days and appeals. I would advise parents/carers of all Year 11 and Year 13 students to familiarise themselves with this information, ahead of students collecting exam results in August.

• Exam Information

If a student cannot collect their results from school and has nominated someone else to do so on their behalf, our Exams Officer, Miss Jupp, must be informed of this in advance.

Please email Miss Jupp using the address  r.jupp@littleover.derby.sch.uk  or via our school  admin@littleover.derby.sch.uk  email address, marked 'FAO Miss Jupp'.

I would ask parents/carers of students in Year 11 and Year 13 to check with your child(ren) that they have returned text books to school, as non-return of books costs us hundreds of pounds every year. If students still have text books, these should be brought into school and returned to Reception, by the end of Friday.

Safeguarding information

We have received the following, from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service Prevention Team

LOGO DESIGN COMPETITION

We are asking pupils in Year 6 and years 7-11 in Derby and Derbyshire to take part in a competition to design a Water Safety Partnership Logo.
The Derbyshire Water Safety Partnership is made up of various stakeholders including the Canal and River Trust, Severn Trent Water, Derbyshire Constabulary and the RNLI. The Partnership aims to maximise water safety, reduce cases of drowning and water related injuries through prevention, education and awareness.

We are looking for a logo that embodies this message for us to use. A winner and two runners up will be chosen by Mr and Mrs Ndlovu; the parents of Thando Ndlovu who sadly passed away in the River Trent in 2021 at the age of 15.

 The prizes will include:

• A seasonal parking permit for use at Carsington, Tittesworth Water, Draycote Water, Linacre Reservoir and Shustoke.
• A Markeaton Park voucher booklet,  giving access to the Mundy Play Centre where equipment includes bouncy castle, mini-golf and canoes (age restrictions may apply).
• A day's free cycle hire for a family from the visitor's centre at Middleton Top, High Peak Trail,  a bug hotel from the environment agency and a £25 Waterstones gift card.

The winner will also be invited to their local fire station for a tour of the station and a meet and greet with the crew. We hope that taking part in this competition over the summer will keep water safety at the forefront of people's minds. All entries should be emailed to
 competition@derbys-fire.gov.uk

The safeguarding section of our school website includes other general safety information, including safety around water, railways and derelict buildings. There is also information on how to report safeguarding concerns during the summer holiday.

• Safeguarding Links

As well as the existing safeguarding information on our website, we have also been made aware of a new App called 'Vent' (though it has also been seen under the name 'Vent – Express Yourself Freely').

This App is being used by some young people who self-harm, to compete against each other by "scoring" their acts of self-harm. This is clearly very concerning and dangerous and we would like to bring it to the attention of all parents/carers.

An alert regarding this App has been sent to schools by the Youth Offending Service and we would ask all parents/carers to be aware of this App and its potentially harmful content.

Go4Schools changes

Go4Schools will be changing format in September. A separate email with more detailed information will be sent to all parents/carers by Mr Buchanan, at a later date. There will be no change to the information parents/carers and students will be able to view on Go4Schools, but the site is being updated and the existing format will change.

I will write to all parents and carers again before students return to school on September 6th, but all that remains for now is for me to wish you all a happy, peaceful and well deserved, summer holiday.

Thank you to all parents and carers for your continued support of our school, our students and our staff. I look forward to seeing all students again, for the start of the new school year on September 6th.

Summer Term finishes this Friday, 21st July, at the earlier time of 1-40pm.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding the upcoming NEU industrial Action.

You will be aware that the NEU have called two further days of national Industrial Action in schools, on Wednesday 5 th and Friday 7th July.

Having assessed potential staff absence on these two days, it is clear we will not have sufficient teaching staff to allow students on site, other than in small numbers. Therefore, all lessons for students in Years 7- 10 and Y12 will take place remotely on both 5th and 7th July, via Teams.

On both strike days, we will be inviting students into school with an EHCP, as well as those students who are our potentially most vulnerable. Parents and carers of these students will be contacted individually, by members of our Learning Support and Safeguarding teams, over the next few days.

As on previous strike days, staff in school will set lessons on Teams by 8-50am on the 5th and 7th July. If lessons are taking place, students will be able to check on Teams by 8-50am. Where lessons are not taking place, students can access a range of relevant tasks and resources, from the sources and links previously made available.

Students eligible for free school Meals will be able to collect food from school during the normal lunch break, from 1-20pm to 2pm.

School will be open as normal for all students on Monday 3rd, Tuesday 4th and Thursday 6th July.

I am informing all parents and carers of the situation now, in order to provide you all with as much notice as possible and to help families to make any required arrangements. The situation is unlikely to change between now and the scheduled strike days, but if there are any developments which impact on our potentially opening to students, I will let you know. This is a national dispute between Unions and Government and not a dispute within or between staff at LCS. As all major education Unions have balloted members over industrial action, or are planning to do so, further action is possible across the country in the Autumn Term. If and when I have any confirmed news of this, I will pass any relevant information on to all parents and carers.

Thank you for your continued support of our school, our students and staff.

Yours sincerely

J. Wilding
Headteacher

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Teacher of Mathematics.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Year 8 will be involved with MADfest, on Friday 30th June in conjunction with the LCS Creative Arts department.

All Year 8 students will be off timetable from period one through to period four, participating in exciting bespoke Creative Arts workshops. The theme for this year is "The Environment".

We have sixteen practitioners, many from the creative industries sector, educationalists, and environmental groups who will be working with students. Within these 10 workshops, students will learn new skills, have an opportunity to discuss creative ideas, and have professionals share about their own journey and their own careers. 

Students will be immersed in their own creative journey, inspiring others around them, and creating positive change in the community as they address the 'environmental brief'.