A student in LCS Sixth Form has tested positive for COVID-19. All close contacts of this students have been informed and will now self-isolate as per Public Health England advice.

To all parents and carers.

We have been informed of a positive Covid-19 case in our Sixth Form. This is an isolated case of one student, who became symptomatic after arriving home from school on Monday.

We have identified potential close contacts of the student concerned, who have all been sent home; parents have also been informed.

Due to the nature of this case, we have been able to keep the close contacts to less than 10 students, all of whom were informed and left site within one hour of the report being received. These students will now self isolate for 14 days.

The student with the positive test had not been in school since Monday lunchtime and will now self isolate for 10 days.

Below is the letter from PHE containing advice for such situations.

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers.

It has been an eventful, but extremely rewarding first 3 weeks of term. The students continue to amaze us with their positivity and resilience and all Year Groups are continuing to make excellent progress. The need to create Year Group 'bubbles' in school has caused some issues for us, which we are addressing and making adaptions where required, but one of the main effects of the 'bubble' system appears to be happening when students leave school at the end of the day.

With our staggered finish times, students are leaving school in their Year Group 'bubbles' to minimise mixing. Some students are finding this challenging, particularly in the younger year groups, and are becoming over excited around their peers, without the older students around to calm them down. We have had some calls from members of the community about poor behaviour of our students on the way home from school and I have been out to two particular areas in the last few days to talk to students about their responsibilities and our expectations of them, while wearing our school uniform.

Whereas most of this behaviour is simply 'silliness' or over-enthusiasm, this can lead to more serious issues if it gets out of hand. I would, therefore, ask all parents and carers to talk to their children about walking home from school sensibly and safely, as the good reputation this school has in the community is built on the behaviour of our students, both in and out of school. If students witness others letting the school down on their way home, they should speak to their Head of Year, or to myself, so we can identify those responsible. Thank you for your cooperation with this.

With the current restrictions around Covid-19, we will unfortunately not be able to hold our regular School Open Day and Sixth Form Open Evening events this term; these events were scheduled for 8th October and 20th October, respectively. We are in the process of putting together on-line virtual presentations for both events, which we hope to have 'live' on our website on the original dates, or as close to these dates as we can. We are working hard to make as much relevant information as possible available through this virtual format, as the option of people visiting school personally is not available to us at this time.

Thank you, as usual, for your ongoing support. Enjoy your weekend.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

The latest LCS Sixth Form Prospectus is now available to download. Due to the COVID-19 situation, the Sixth Form Open evening will be virtual this year, with the information planned to be released at the end of October.

The prospectus can be found under Sixth Form > Prospectus.

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers.

Greetings from LCS.

I would like to thank all students, parents and carers for their support over the last 2 days. Year 10 students have returned to school today and work has started to be set for those students who we identified yesterday as requiring to self-isolate. All students have been incredibly sensible and responsible about the current situation and we have also received some welcome support from parents and carers. My decision to initially ask all Year 10 students to remain at home yesterday was not one I wanted to make, but I am grateful to students, parents and carers for their understanding of the reasons for this decision.

Students have responded extremely well to the change of rules regarding face masks from today and have cooperated well with our new expectations. A small number of students, understandably, forgot about the new rule and were provided with face masks by school staff, but I am grateful to the vast majority of students who remembered and were prepared accordingly; I am sure those who did forget will be organised for tomorrow.

Finally, I have been asked to share a letter from Public Health England about the Test and Trace programme. A link to this letter is below:

Test and Trace Program Letter - Public Health England

Thank you again for your support and positive comments of the last few days. Please do not underestimate how much this means to myself and to all staff in school at this present time.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

LCS has 2 vacancies for the position of: Kitchen Assistant.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Mr Wilding has issued an update: Parents/carers of year 10 students who were in close contact with the student that tested Positive for COVID-19 have now been contacted and these students should now self-isolate as per Public Health England guidance. Other year 10 students should attend school as normal.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon from LCS.

Thank you to all Year 10 parents and carers for your support today. I can confirm that all students identified as 'close contacts' of the student testing positive for Covid-19 have now been informed by school. Parents and carers have been called individually and a follow up email has also been sent, containing information and advice from Public Health England. These 'close contacts' will now self-isolate as per Public Health England guidance. I would like to thank all parents and carers of these students for their understanding and support. Work for students will be set using the Go4Schools system during their self-isolation period.

If you have a child in Year 10 and have not received this telephone call and email from school today, your child can return to school tomorrow. Other Year Groups should continue to attend school, as normal.

A reminder to all parents, carers and students that face masks will now be mandatory inside the school building from tomorrow, apart from during lessons. Students should wear a face covering when moving between lessons, at break and lunchtime inside the building and whilst queuing for food and toilets. Face coverings are not mandatory when students are outside of the school building. Details of acceptable face masks are shown on our website.

This decision is not one we have taken lightly and is a result of several factors. As I stated yesterday, if you wish your child to be exempt from wearing a face covering please contact us via email at admin@littleover.derby.sch.uk and mark your email for attention of Ms C Barrows, School Medical Officer. We will continue to keep our policy on face coverings under constant review and may change our position at any time, if circumstances change.

Finally, I have attached two useful links for parents and carers from the NHS and DfE. The first link, below, is to a useful website summarising guidance for parents and carers if their child is unwell and cannot attend school.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

This second link is to government guidance for parents, translated into several languages.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-in-the-autumn-term-translations-for-parents-and-carers

Thank you again for your continued support. It was inevitable we would be faced with this situation at some point, with rising infection rates nationally. It is something we were ready for and will no doubt have to deal with again. Your support as parents and carers is vital for us and is something we will need to maintain.

Best wishes.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Year 10 students should remain at home on Tuesday 22nd September, after a Year 10 student tested positive for COVID-19.

To all parents and carers.

Good evening from LCS.

We have been informed this afternoon of a positive Covid-19 test for a single student in Year 10. This student was not in school today, but was in school without displaying symptoms last Friday.

Public Health England advice is to trace back 48 hours from the student becoming symptomatic and to identify their 'close contacts' from this time; in this case, we are tracing back to last Thursday 17th September. As we were not informed of this positive test result until after the end of the school day today, we are currently working to identify who these students are, using student timetables and staff seating plans. The default position from Public Health England is not to advise all student 'bubbles' to stay at home, but given the time scale we are working to we cannot guarantee that all potential contacts will be identified before the start of school tomorrow. 

We are therefore asking all Year 10 students to remain at home and not attend school tomorrow, Tuesday 22nd September. Year 10 students should remain in the home, although there is no need for other family members to self-isolate unless they are displaying symptoms. This is a precautionary measure, but will allow us time to inform all contacts of the student concerned, without the need for students to be sent home during the school day. Staff will identify those student 'contacts' throughout tomorrow morning and parents/carers will be sent a copy of a letter via email advising them of action they need to take. Parents/Carers who have not received this 'close contact' letter by the end of school tomorrow, Tuesday 22nd September, can send their child(ren) back to school on Wednesday 23rd September, unless additional announcements are made.

Students in all years other than Year 10 should attend school as normal tomorrow. Staff will be asked to set work for Year 10 students tomorrow using the Go4Schools system.

Below is a letter from Public Health England to all students, parents and carers. This is a general letter we have been asked to share to all students and parents. A further letter will be sent tomorrow to all 'close contacts'.

Prior to receiving the information regarding this positive Covid-19 case, we had made the decision as a school to enforce the wearing of face masks in the school building from Wednesday 23rd September. Face masks will be compulsory from Wednesday in all indoor areas and food/toilet queues, including break and lunch times and lesson changeovers. Students are not required to wear face masks in lessons or when outside of the building. This decision has been made with thought to a changing weather forecast later this week, meaning that more students may be in the building at break and lunch times. It is also a response to this morning's government briefing and concern over rising Covid -19 cases nationally. 

If your child is exempt from wearing a face mask for medical reasons, please email us at  admin@littleover.derby.sch.uk  and address your email to Ms C Barrows, Medical Officer.

Please refer to our website for photographs of acceptable face masks, which must be of plain colour and of the elastic ear-fitting style; bandanas and scarves are not allowed.

Further updates will be issued tomorrow.

Thank you.

Exam information booklets for GCSE and A-level students are now available.

We have also updated our Exams Contingency Plan with additional measures due to the COVID pandemic.

You can find all this information on the Exams > Exam Information page.

The LCS Sports and Fitness Centre has issued an update with regards to it's current closure.

You can find it on the Sports and Arts Facilities page.

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers.

Greetings from LCS.

We are almost at the end of the second week of term and students are now beginning to fully settle into the routine of school. We are already seeing progress being made with 'catch up' and we will be informing you of our formal plans for this very soon; we are hoping to begin formal 'catch-up' sessions with Year 11 within the next few weeks. Our main focus continues to be student welfare and seeing students happy and enjoying school again is the most important thing at this time.

Attendance continues to be very good and has been around 93% so far this week. Some students continue to be absent due to quarantine after returning to the UK from abroad at the end of the summer holiday; most of these students should return to school by Monday. Other students are self-isolating due to family members exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms, although they are not themselves symptomatic. A very small number of students are currently absent with potential Covid-19 symptoms and are awaiting test results. All other student absence is non Covid-19 related. As I am writing this email to you, we continue to have no positive cases of Covid-19 amongst students or staff. As I have said before, however, this situation could change at any time.

The best current source of information related to Covid-19 can be found at the link below. This web page includes several sub-sections of information and covers most of the questions people have about the virus and how to register for a test.

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

From our perspective as a school, it remains vital that parents and carers communicate regularly with us and that students displaying Covid-19 symptoms do not attend. Thank you all for your cooperation with this so far.

To ensure we have up to date contact details for all parents and carers, we would be grateful if you could contact us if you have recently changed address, telephone number or email address. If you have changed any of your details recently, please email us at admin@littleover.derby.sch.uk and mark your email for the attention of Ms K Wilson, Student Services Manager.

Finally, I have been asked to remind students that face masks are currently compulsory when entering shops throughout the country. Although face masks are strongly advised in school, students cannot enter shops on the way home from school if they are not wearing a face mask. I would be grateful if you could remind your child(ren) of this, to avoid issues in our local community.

Thank you all for your ongoing support.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

The timetables for the Year 11 Mock Exams in October 2020 are now available to download.

You can download a copy from the Exams page.

A booklet of information for Year 11 students and their parents/carers is available, containing revision advice and timetables for the upcoming mock exams.

You can find the information under Parents > Year 11 - Important Info.

Mr Wilding has sent out a message to parents and carers with an update after the first week back at school.

To all parents and carers.

Greetings, from all at LCS.

We have had a tremendously successful first week back at school and as staff we have been delighted to see students again. The atmosphere around school has been happy and positive and students have settled back well into their new working routines. Attendance this week has been above 98% across the school, which is testament to our students' enthusiasm and desire to return to work. It really has been a pleasure to be around them this week.

We have found some issues with our plans, which we expected when students returned, and have made adjustments as the week has gone on. We will continue to make required changes when necessary and would thank students for their patience and understanding.

The situation with students arriving and leaving the school site has improved each day, but there are still too many students arriving to school early in the morning. I have received several emails from members of the local community concerned about this, as students are blocking the pavement particularly at the Pastures Hill entrance. School staff are now at each gate from 8-15am, but I would once again ask students and parents not to arrive at school until their designated start time, as students cannot be allowed on to site before this time in order to maintain 'bubbles'.

The roadworks on Pastures Hill, we believe, will move along the road at some point next week and will further effect parking and movement of traffic outside the school site. Once again, we ask parents not to park directly outside school, in the interests of student safety.

As I have previously stated, our policy on the wearing of face masks is under constant review. As yet, we have had no confirmed cases of Covid-19 amongst students or staff and next week's weather forecast again looks promising, which will allow students to be outside as much as possible when not in lessons.

We have made an adjustment to our face mask policy for students in the Sixth Form, who will now be required to wear a face mask when in the common room during social times; this has been communicated to all Sixth Form students, parents and carers by Mr Archer.

With news of rising Covid-19 cases nationally, it may be a matter of time before LCS has our first confirmed case. The government guidance on face masks in schools may change soon, or it may become clear that we will need to change our guidance to make face masks compulsory at LCS. I would reiterate that face masks are strongly advised in communal areas around school and remind students, parents and carers that this guidance could change at short notice.

Thank you all for your support in making this week such a positive experience.

Best wishes. Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

In response to the current rise in Covid 19 cases among young adults and our observations of student movements in the first few days of term, we have decided to make 2 changes to our Covid rules relating to the 6th Form to try and ensure we can keep our students and staff safe.  These changes will take effect from Monday 14th September.

You can find out more about the new rules under Sixth Form > September Reopening > COVID-19 - Sixth Form Information

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Part-time Teacher of Science (Chemistry) - MPS.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Finance and Administration Assistant.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Mr Wilding has sent out a message to parents and carers with an update after the first day back at school.

To all parents and carers.

Good evening from LCS.

I would like to thank and congratulate all students for their outstanding conduct on their return to school today. It has been a pleasure to work with them and they deserve great credit for the way they have approached their return to school. We hope they will now settle back into the required routine which, in itself, will enable them to catch-up on any gaps in their work from last term. Attendance has been extremely high, with very few students absent.
There have been some issues with the organisation of today, most of which could not have been foreseen until students returned to school. With several of these issues, your support as parents and carers can make a big difference for us and would be appreciated.

Arrival times

A number of students arrived before their stated start time this morning, causing groups to form at the gates. Although students maintained social distancing and behaved well, this is something our planning is designed to avoid. Please discuss this with your child(ren) and encourage them to arrive at their stated time, rather than before. Start times and correct entrances are all stated in our information on the website.

School meals and food accounts

Unlike some schools, we are aiming to continue a school food service at both break and lunchtime for all students. We have constructed several new serving areas for this purpose, which are open at both break and lunchtimes. Please remind your child(ren) that food is available at both times and that they can buy food at break time if they wish, to avoid the longer lunch time queues. As stated in our previous communications, we are asking parents and carers to use Wisepay when adding money to student food accounts. A number of students arrived today with no money on their accounts and have been provided with temporary overdrafts. We would be grateful if all parents and carers could check their child(ren)'s Wisepay accounts this evening, as we have a very restricted capacity for accepting cash with the current restrictions. We would not want students to have issues purchasing food in school, at any time.

Face masks

As previously stated, face masks remain strongly advised in communal areas around school. If students choose to wear a face mask they must follow the safe-use guidelines, as shown in the WHO guidance. Our policy on face masks is under constant review and may change at any time.

Leaving the school site

Our biggest issue today has been with students leaving school at the end of the day. Our staggered finish times and designated entrance planning is designed to ease the potential for conjestion as students arrive at and leave school. The situation has been complicated by the ongoing roadworks, which will remain until at least September 16th. The situation is also not helped by the number of parents and carers parking outside school at the end of the day, despite my previous requests not to do so. I would once again respectfully ask all parents and carers to think about whether it is necessary to park outside school and to consider the potential impact this is having on student safety. Cars parked on already narrow pavements are a safety issue and with current roadworks there is the potential for long traffic delays if cars are parked outside the school site. Ultimitely, I am asking for the support of all parents and carers for the sake of all students in the school.

We are aware of the congestion as students left school today, much of which was caused by the sheer number of students leaving school for the first time since March. We are aware, however, that our plan of staggerered finish times may need to be changed to address this issue and we will continue to review the situation over the next few days. Staggered finish times will need to remain, but if there continues to be an issue with numbers of students leaving school via Pastures Hill, we will need to change these plans to reduce the problem.

If and when changes are made to these arrangements, I will let you know in sufficient time.

Thank you for your continued support. I will issue further updates before the end of the week.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon from LCS.

We have had a great day today meeting all our new Year 7 students for their Induction Day. They have all left having met their new Form Tutor and classmates and are all excited about starting lessons tomorrow. A reminder that Year 7 will now use Pasture's Hill entrance only from tomorrow, along with Year 8 and 9.  The link to this information on our website is below, including start/finish times and entrances for all Year Groups:

COVID Bubble Information

My welcome to all parents and carers at the start of the new academic year is to be found on our website at the link below, instead of the usual letter sent home with students. All other related information is also available on our website.

Welcome Letter

Please note the following points to help us enjoy a safe first day of term for our remaining students tomorrow.

Traffic and Road Works - The road works on Pasture's Hill will remain for at least the next two weeks, but will move to the other carriageway from tomorrow. There will be no parking on Pasture's Hill for the duration of these works. Please do not attempt to park outside school when bringing or collecting students from school, as this will cause a problem for flow of traffic and will be a potential risk to safety. There is also a temporary bus stop currently directly outside the school site, further restricting available space.

As previously requested, if you are bringing/collecting students by car please park away from the school site and ask your child(ren) to walk the last part of the journey on to site. Please do not wait directly outside of the school gates to meet your child, as this will cause crowding and not allow for social distancing. Please arrange a suitable place to meet your child away from site.

Uniform - All students have been asked to wear full and correct school uniform from the start of term. This includes trousers and shoes, rather than jeans and trainers/pumps. PE kit is not required at the moment, as PE activities will not involve the need for students to change. If your child has PE, please send them with trainers to change into for their PE lesson. At break and lunchtime we will be asking students to be outside as much as possible, so we would recommend students bringing a coat to school if rain is forecast.

School Bus - The temporary school bus route I informed you of at the end of last week will continue tomorrow. Please remember that any student using the school bus must wear a face mask and adhere to the instructions outlined in my previous message.

Wisepay - We cannot accept cash payments at the moment and therefore request all money for school meals is deposited via Wisepay. If you are not sure how to use Wisepay, instructions can be found on our website. If you are a new parent/carer, please also make sure you click to receive emails in your Wisepay account 'settings', as this is our main method of email communication.

Visitors to school - We would like to continue keeping visitors to school to a minimum at the present time. We would respectfully request, therefore, that parents do not arrive in school asking to see staff without an appointment. Questions or concerns can be sent via email to admin@littleover.derby.sch.uk and forwarded to the member of staff concerned. Alternatively, please call our Reception team on 01332 513219. With the current situation around Covid-19, meetings with parents and carers can only be by appointment.

Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to seeing all students back in school from tomorrow morning.

Enjoy your evening.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out a welcome message to parents and carers.

You can find a copy of the message under Parents > Communications > Letters Home.

Good evening from LCS.

Staff have completed their two INSET Days and we are now ready to welcome students back to school on Monday (Y7 and 12) and Tuesday (Y8-11 and Y13) next week. Several parents and carers have asked us to clarify the situation over attendance and students exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms in school. All this information can be found on our web-site, but the main points are as follows.

Students displaying symptoms of Covid-19 must not come into school until they have completed the stated period of self-isolation, or returned a negative Covid-19 test result. We would ask parents and carers to inform us of this immediately, on the first morning of any absence.

If a student displays symptoms in school they will be removed to a separate room as per NHS guidelines. The student will be asked if they have;

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)*
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

If the student answers Yes to any of the above questions, the parent/carer will be contacted and asked to collect the student from school as soon as possible.

The parent/carer will be given Next steps to follow;

1. Get a test to check if you have coronavirus as soon as possible. (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/)
2. Stay at home and do not have visitors until you get your test result – only leave your home to have a test.
3. Anyone you live with, and anyone in your support bubble, must also stay at home until you get your result.

The student will not be allowed back into school until we have either been informed that they have had a negative test result for Covid 19 or they have self-isolated for at least 10 days from when the symptoms started.( https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection#:~:text=It%20is%20very%20important%20that,of%20you%20infecting%20others)

Students will be given a return to school date when being collected and Go4Schools coded with an X until that date – this can be altered if a negative test result is obtained.

If schools are informed of a possible or confirmed case of Covid-19 by NHS Test and Trace, they must immediately contact Public Health England Health Protection Team for advice. Depending on each situation, PHE HPT will advise the school on the correct response.

Our school Privacy Statement has been updated to reflect the potential request for sharing of student data with PHE HPT. The link to our Policy Statement is below:

https://www.littleover.derby.sch.uk/content/data_protection/files/privacy_notice_covid.pdf

I hope this information answers your questions, but please refer to the attached documents, as well as the school website, for further information.

Finally, an update on school transport. Due to ongoing roadworks in the local area, the school bus, operated by Harpurs, will follow a temporary route on Monday. This may be updated for subsequent days and if this happens revised details will be published.

The route for Monday is as follows:

0750 Cavendish
then via Upperdale Road
0753 Stanhope St (Temple)
then via Normanton Road, Burton Road & Whittaker Road
0805 Carlton Road/Fairfield Road junction
then to school via
Burton Road, Manor Road, Uttoxeter Road

Students using the school bus must wear a face mask at all times and adhere to social distancing. When boarding the bus students must use the available hand sanitizer. When travelling on the school bus students are asked to be seated as follows:

Upstairs – Year 7 at the back, Year 8 in the middle, Y9 at the front
Downstairs – Year 10 at the back, Year 11 at the front
We would ask siblings to sit with their Year Groups, rather than together, to keep to the 'bubble' arrangements.

Myself and Mr Smith (as well as some special guest stars) have recorded some further, brief instructional films for students ahead of returning next week. These can be found on our Facebook and Instagram pages. We hope students find them informative and reassuring.

We look forward to welcoming students back into school next week, but until then please enjoy your weekend and continue to keep safe.

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

Good evening from LCS.

Thank you to all parents and carers who have contacted us regarding my latest email on face coverings. We will reply to all questions as soon as we can and I apologise in advance if replies are not as quick as you would normally expect. I hope you appreciate how busy we will be prior to students starting back next week, but we will do our best to respond promptly.

We have received several questions and comments about school testing students for Covid-19. This is not something we have ever commented on, but I am aware of recent press reports around testing kits being delivered to schools. To clarify the situation, we have been sent ten Covid-19 testing kits to use only in exceptional circumstances. There is neither the provision or requirement for schools to routinely test students for Covid-19. Students exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19 must not be sent to school and I would trust you as parents and carers to support us with this and inform us if your child(ren) were to be absent for this reason. If students display symptoms of Covid-19 during the school day they will be removed to a room away from other students and await collection by parents/carers, as per guidelines below:

If a child is awaiting collection, they should be moved, if possible, to a room where they can be isolated behind a closed door, with appropriate adult supervision if required depending on the age of the child. Ideally, a window should be opened for ventilation. If it is not possible to isolate them, move them to an area which is at least 2 metres away from other people.

If anyone in an education, childcare or non-residential children social care setting develops symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19): a high temperature, new and persistent cough or a loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia), however mild, they should self-isolate for at least 10 days from when the symptoms started; or if they are not experiencing symptoms but have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) they should self-isolate for at least 10 days starting from the day the test was taken.

Following the stated guidelines, any student exhibiting symptoms would be required to remain absent for at least 2 full school weeks. If a student received a negative test result within this time, they would be able to return before the full self-isolation period ended.

As well as questions on Covid-19 testing, we have also received a number of concerns from parents and carers about the ongoing roadworks outside school. These road works will continue for the next 2-3 weeks and will impact significantly on traffic in the local area. I would again politely request you allow your child(ren) to walk to school, or that you arrange to drop-off and collect them away from the school site. I have been in regular communication with the council throughout today and have been informed that a safe walk-way will be opened to allow students to access both school entrances for Monday. This walkway will be on the school side of the road and away from the main carriageway, to ensure student safety. These ongoing roadworks will also impact on the school bus, which will have a temporary route on Monday and will also be dropping students on Fresco Drive rather than on premises in the morning. The bus will collect students from the school site in the afternoons. Updated information on this is on our Facebook and Instagram accounts and I will further update you by email tomorrow, in case there are any further last minute changes.

A reminder that students in Year 7 and 12 only should attend school on Monday 7th September, with all other students starting on Tuesday 8th.

I will send a further update tomorrow and on Monday.

Thank you and enjoy the rest of your evening.

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

To all parents and carers.

We have met as a Senior Management Team this morning and have agreed the following guidelines for wearing of face coverings in school from Monday.

Face coverings will not be compulsory in school, for staff or students, at this stage. Derby is not in one of the current areas at risk of additional 'lockdown' measures and we have had no instruction from government or Local Authority that face coverings should be compulsory in school. We are, however, a very busy site with a large number of students and staff. Our plans for re-opening are sound and I believe school is safe for both staff and students to return, but there will still be busy areas and 'pinch points', such as corridors or toilet/food queues where there will be numbers of students in one place at one time. There is a strong argument in this situation that the wearing of face coverings would be an added safety measure to manage the risk of Covid-19 infection and, as a result of this, our current position is that face coverings are strongly advised for students in communal areas outside of the classroom. Students will be asked to remove face coverings in lessons and should keep a small plastic bag inside their school bag to place their face covering when not in use.

Students will be allowed to wear a disposable/single-use face mask or a re-usable fabric face covering whilst in school. The styles of mask acceptable to wear in school are shown in the images below.

Face coverings must fit over the nose as well as mouth and have elastic fittings around the ears. They should be plain and not include symbols and/or logos.

Scarves, bandanas or similar face coverings not matching the descriptions above are not permitted in school and any students wearing these items will be asked to remove them.

Face coverings can be worn in communal areas and during social times, such as on corridors at lesson changeover, break and lunchtimes, as well as when students are travelling to and from school. Students will be asked to remove face coverings during lessons in the classroom and for physical exercise during PE.

Students travelling to school using the school bus, operated by Harpur’s, must wear a face covering whilst travelling on the bus to and from school. Further information on the school bus will be sent over the next two days.

Students travelling via public transport must also adhere to the current government guidelines and wear a face covering at all times.

Latest advice from WHO on wearing of face masks for young people is as follows:

‘Children who are in general good health can wear a non-medical or fabric mask. This provides source control, meaning it keeps the virus from being transmitted to others if they are infected and are not aware that they are infected. The adult who is providing the mask should ensure the fabric mask is the correct size and sufficiently covers the nose, mouth and chin of the child.

Children with underlying health conditions such as cystic fibrosis, cancer or immunosuppression, should, in consultation with their medical providers, wear a medical mask. A medical mask controls spreading of the virus and protection to the wearer, and is recommended for anyone who is at higher risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19.’

When wearing a face covering students should:

• wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser before putting a face covering on.
• avoid touching the part of the face covering in contact with your mouth and nose, as it could be contaminated with the virus.
• change the face covering if it becomes damp.
• avoid taking it off and putting it back on a lot in quick succession (for example, when leaving and entering shops on a high street)
• when removing in the classroom, place your face covering into a plastic bag in your school bag.

When removing a face covering:

• wash hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser before removing.
• only handle the straps, ties or clips.
• do not give it to someone else to use.
• if single-use, dispose of it carefully in a residual waste bin and do not recycle.
• if reusable, wash it in line with manufacturer’s instructions at the highest temperature appropriate for the fabric.
• wash hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser once removed.

For more information on correct wearing of face coverings, please watch the following short film from the World Health Organisation.

https://youtu.be/9Tv2BVN_WTk

The guidelines above are relevant to students returning to school next week, at this present moment in time, and may change at short notice, depending on local or national guidance. The situation will be reviewed daily and if school policy changes on the use of face masks, students, parents and carers will be informed through the usual channels.

If your child has a medical condition requiring them to wear a face mask at all times in school, including lessons, please contact us atadmin@littleover.derby.sch.uk and address your email to Mrs C Barrows, Medical Officer.

On a final, unrelated matter. We have been informed today that roadworks currently taking place on Pasture’s Hill directly outside school are likely to continue into the start of term. We are talking to the contractors as well as the Local Authority to ensure the safe movement of students on the pavements outside of school, ahead of the start of term next week.

There will, however, be no available parking for parents and carers on Pasture’s Hill for the foreseeable future; when we have a more accurate timescale I will let you know.

Depending on the entrance allocated to your child, please park a suitable distance away from the school site when bringing or collecting your child from school. Alternatively, please encourage your child to walk to school. Your cooperation on this matter is greatly appreciated and will help ensure the safe arrival and departure of all students to school each day.

Thank you for your continued support. Further information will be sent over the next few days, ahead of the start of term next week.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding

To all Y11 students, parents and carers.

Since my message to you all yesterday, there has been a further change made nationally to the process for issuing of GCSE results. All students will now receive a 'final grade' for each subject, which will be the CAG issued by the school, or the nationally moderated grade if this is higher.

These 'final grades' will now be available to all students on Go4Schools tomorrow (Thursday) from 8am.

The remaining elements of the process for issuing of results are unchanged:

'Final grades' will now be published to all students on Go4Schools at 8am on Thursday 20th August. Shortly after this, at around 8-30am, students who have successfully achieved the criteria for LCS Sixth Form will receive an email asking them to complete the on-line enrolment form. This must be submitted by 11am on Friday 21st August if places are to be secured. If you are holding a reserve offer for Sixth Form and have met the entry criteria, please complete the on-line form, indicating that this is for a Reserve offer. Students who have applied elsewhere for post-16 study should follow the enrolment process for their chosen institution; Miss Came has emailed the details of the Derby College process to all students, but please check with your chosen institution as each one may have a different system.

Students who have not met the criteria for LCS Sixth Form or their alternative choice of placement and require advice are invited to come into school from 8-30am to 1-30pm on Thursday. A waiting area will be set up in S5 and staff will be available to offer advice and support. If attending with parents/carers, please park in the main school car park. If you are coming into school, please follow hygiene rules and observe social distancing at all times.

If you have been successful in gaining your place at LCS Sixth Form or your chosen place of study, please do not come into school on Thursday, in order to help us support those students in most need.

After 11am on Friday 21st August, students with Reserve offers for LCS Sixth Form will be contacted if they are to be offered a place. If students with Reserve offers have not been contacted by 4pm on Friday 21st August, they should assume they have not been successful in gaining a place at LCS Sixth Form.

As things currently stand, we are awaiting clarification of the appeals process for students unhappy with their results. Unless OFQUAL update their appeals guidance before tomorrow, students should refer to the existing document available from our website. As has already been stated, appeals can only be made if there is evidence of discrimination against individual students in awarding of CAGs, or if a clear mistake has been made in processing of data. CAGs cannot be appealed on the basis that a student does not agree with them.

We hope all students are able to move on to their first choice placements, but support will be available as outlined above if required.

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding, in conjunction with Mr. Archer, has issued information relating to this year's A-level results.

To all Year 13 students, parents and carers.

We appreciate the stress and anxiety many of you have suffered in recent weeks ahead of the publishing of A Level results today. I hope now the results have been issued that some of this stress has been eased, as you now look to the next stage of, hopefully, securing your preferred placements for September.

Overall our school results are broadly in line with our 2019 cohort, which were record results for the centre at that time.

• The average point score last year was 37.2 and average grade was B-.
• This year, APS is 37 and average grade is again B-.

• A*/A last year was 34% and is 30% this year.
• A*/B was 63% and is now 58%
• A*/C was 81% and is now 84%

The standardisation process used by the exam boards appears to have resulted in 37% of our CAGs being downgraded, mostly by one grade. This has not been consistent across subjects, however, and we appreciate students will not have been impacted equally. We have prioritised meeting students who are concerned about their Higher Education entries this morning and have spoken to and advised those students and parents/carers who have been into school to see us so far today.

After discussions with students and having received feedback from several Universities this morning, we have made the decision to make all CAGs available to students from this afternoon, rather than our original plan of issuing this information on Monday. We feel making this information available early will benefit students and provide them with additional evidence, if required, in support of their Higher Education applications. This information will now be available on Go4Schools from 2pm today.

If students still require advice or would like to discuss their results further,  staff will again be available from 8-30am to 1-30pm in S5 tomorrow.

We are awaiting further clarification on the use of 'valid Mock Exam grades' as a means of appeal against results, which we have been told to expect early next week. The key issue remains, however, that any appeal would need to be done by the school and not by the individual student.

I have made my praise and admiration for our students well known over the last few months and the way students have conducted themselves today, despite the specific issues this year's results have brought, has again showed what a determined and resilient group of individuals they are. As I have said to students I have spoken to this morning, I believe many will be stronger from their experiences of recent months and will go on to great things in the future. They have come through this experience, so what else can they have thrown at them?

If your grades were not what you expected or needed for future study, please come in to see us over the next few days for support and advice. If you have gained the grades you needed, I wish you well with your chosen future path.

It is essential you return your Destinations Form via email to Mrs Goodman as soon as your September placements are finalised, as we must have evidence of where each student has been placed after leaving Sixth Form. You have also been informed of a provisional date for a Reunion event in December, which Mr Archer will confirm with you nearer the time. I hope, also, that many of you choose to join our Alumni group, details of which can be found on our website. The experiences students have been through this year will be very helpful to share with others in the future.

Well done and congratulations on your results and, above all, for the attitude you have all displayed in recent months.

Good luck and keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

R. Archer
Head of Sixth Form

The LCS Safeguarding Department has issued a message to Parents, Carers and Students regarding safety during the Summer break.

Summer time, and particularly the summer holidays, can be full of hazards and risks to manage. We know that during this summer holiday pupils will continue to be restricted by the Covid 19 pandemic. So on the school website within the Safeguarding and Wellbeing section we have produced a roundup of resources and agencies that may be helpful during this time. This also includes a section on how to report a safeguarding concern to school and this will be monitored throughout the school holiday.

On-line safety is always a huge concern and even more so during the Covid 19 school closure. Please see below a message from Derbyshire Police about keeping our children and young people safe.  There is further information and resources available on the school website within the Safeguarding section under E-Safety should you have any concerns.

Derbyshire Constabulary message re online safety

During the Coronavirus lockdown children and young people have been spending increasing amounts of their time using online devices, games and apps. Unfortunately, this has resulted in an increased risk of grooming, exploitation and abuse. In order to support agencies to protect and safeguard children and young people from abuse and exploitation, please be aware that:

• ‘Banners’ on remote learning sites such as Seesaw may have chat facilities and these can be used by perpetrators to groom and exploit children.
• Instagram and Snapchat are still the most common applications used by online offenders, however Grindr is increasingly being used by perpetrators to make contact with young people in Derby and Derbyshire. Gaming apps such as ‘Worldcraft’ have a chat facility within them and this can be used by perpetrators to make initial contact with the child. Instagram or Snapchat user names are then exchanged and the contact continues on these platforms. Remember, any online connected device or toy can potentially be used by offenders to groom, harm and abuse children.
• It is vitally important that children, young people as well as their parents and carers are aware of how they can keep themselves safe online and know what to do to report concerns.

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon from LCS.

This is a very short mesage, but contains links to much more detailed information related to our planned re-opening to all students in September. 

Instead of sending one extremely long and detailed message, or a series of shorter ones, we have published all information related to September in a dedicated area of our school website.

All relevant information can be accessed at the following link:

September 2020 Reopening Arrangements

I would respectfully ask all parents, carers and students to read this information fully. The first document is my summary of the key issues and arrangements, followed by more detailed documents and policy amendments. All of this information is new and has not been published previously, apart from the guidance on acceptable face coverings which relates to our current policy. Our policy on face coverings for September will be confirmed ahead of the start of the new school term, depending on government guidance at the time.

The latest government guidance for parents and carers of children in Secondary Schools was updated on 16th July and can be found at the link below:

GOV.uk Guidance for Parents/Carers of children in Seconary Schools

As always, I am happy to answer any questions about September through the usual channels. I will send one final update on Friday, together with a message from Jamie Cameron, Chair of LCS Governors. Until then, have a good evening and rest of the week.

Best wishes. Keep safe.

The LCS Sports and Fitness Centre has released an update with regards to it's current closure.

You can find it on the Sports and Arts Facilities page.

Year 13 students have been sent a survey to their school email accounts relating to the potential rearranging of the Sixth Form Leavers' Ball which was previously cancelled due to the lock-down. The deadline for responses is Friday 17th July.

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers.

Although our plans for September are far from finalised, I am aware you will have questions about the organisation of the school day and what our plans will be for re-opening. I have attached below a brief outline of our plans for September, although this is subject to change depending on the local and national picture around Covid-19 at the time. 

What we are putting together is, we believe, the best offer we can make to all students, taking into account current government guidelines. Our plans will allow all students to return to a full-time timetable in September, although concessions will need to be made in some subject areas. The plans outlined below are subject to successful Risk Assessments being completed and agreement with our Governing Body.

Information for parents and carers  –  School re-opening for September 2020

• School will close to all students on Friday 24th July and we plan to re-open for all Year Groups at the start of the Autumn term.
• School will be open to our new Year 7 and Year 12 students only on Monday 7th September.   This is to allow our Induction Programme to take place for all our new students, as this was not able to happen during the summer term. Details of Induction Days will be sent separately to parents/carers of students involved.
• Students in all other Year Groups will start term on Tuesday 8th September.
• All students should attend school from the start of the Autumn Term in September, on either 7th or 8th September, as indicated. Government guidance states: this means from that point, the usual rules on school attendance will apply.
• Students will be taught in six Year Group ‘bubbles’ and will have lessons in separate areas of the school site. Year 7-11 will be in separate ‘bubbles’. Year 12 and 13 will be together as one Sixth Form ‘bubble’.
• To allow for effective hygiene and to minimise risk of Covid-19 transmission, hand sanitizer will be placed at the school gates for students arriving and leaving each day. There will also be sanitizer placed at entrances to corridors and classroom blocks. There will be aprox 50 hand sanitizing stations placed around the school site, in addition to existing handwashing facilities in student toilet areas.
• Teachers will move to each classroom and between ‘bubbles’, as per government guidance, maintaining a 2 metre distance from students at all times.
• Support for SEND students will continue from September, with Teaching Assistants allocated to each ‘bubble’. Student PCPs will be written and reviewed as normal.
• Start and finish times are to be confirmed, but we will be operating a staggered start and finish to the school day. Students will be asked to arrive at a given time from 8-30am to 9-00am and different Year Groups will use different entrances.*
• Lunchtime will be reduced from 55 minutes to 40 minutes, to allow for an earlier end to the school day without reducing teaching time. Timings for the end of the school day are to be confirmed, but will likely be between 2-50pm and 3-00pm*
• There will be a school bus available at the start and end of the school day. Timings and routes are to be confirmed.*
• Students travelling to school via public transport should refer to the appropriate government guidance at that time.
• Movement of students within each ‘bubble’ will be allowed, but students will not mix between ‘bubbles’ during the school day. Movement of students around the school site will be kept to a minimum.
• Key Stage 3 students will remain in the same room for most of their lessons, but there will be some movement to specialist classrooms for some subjects within the Year Group ‘bubble’. There will be more movement within Year 10, Year 11 and Sixth Form ‘bubbles’ to allow for students to access specialist rooms for GCSE and A level courses.
• Students will have their break and lunchtimes in their ‘bubble’.
• Students are required to bring their own school equipment, as equipment cannot be shared between students. This includes:
  • Pens and pencils
  • Ruler
  • Eraser
  • Calculator. We recommend the Casio fx-83GTX (available on-line for around £11) but if   your child already has a scientific calculator, there is no need to purchase a new one
  • Maths set
  • Glue stick
  • Coloured pencils
  • Small curved-edged scissors
• Students should bring an individual small bottle of hand sanitizer (50/60ml) to keep with them at all times during the school day.
• All students should be in full school uniform on returning to school in September. Latest government guidelines state: Uniforms do not need to be cleaned any more often than usual, nor do they need to be cleaned using methods which are different from normal.
• Uniform can be purchased from any of our 3 official suppliers; details are on the school website. We would recommend purchasing uniform on-line, or checking with the suppliers whether they are operating a counter sale service.
• Students in our Sixth Form should follow our published dress code.
• Plans for delivery of the PE curriculum from September are still to be finalised, but will likely focus on light exercise for students in their school uniform, at least for the first half-term.
• Students will need clean trainers for PE, but we are not asking parents/carers to purchase new PE kit at this stage.
• School kitchens will be open for all students. There will be a reduced take-away Menu available, with a range of sandwiches and a hot food option each day, which will be accessible to all students at different serving areas around school. Students eligible for Free School Meals will receive these in school as normal; the voucher scheme will end after the summer holiday.
• Students should not bring cash into school and all meal accounts should be credited via wisepay. Any funds deposited on student meal accounts before school closure will remain. Details of how to use wisepay are available on the school website, or can be sent to parents/carers personally via contact with our admin@littleover.derby.sch.uk email address, if requested.
• Lockers will not be accessible to students at the start of term, unless they are located in the rooms allocated to the Year Group ‘bubble’.
• School Behaviour Policy will be amended to reflect these changes to the organisation of the school day and will be shared with parents, carers and students ahead of the start of term in September. All current school sanctions will remain in place, although we hope they will not be required for the vast majority of students.

*Details and timings to be confirmed week beginning 31st August, taking into account potential changes in the local situation and any change to government guidance over the summer holiday.

If our ongoing Risk Assessments lead to the plans outlined needing to be changed ahead of the summer holiday, I will let you know as soon as possible. Otherwise, parents and carers can plan ahead on this basis, although final confirmation of re-opening will not be possible until the end of August/beginning of September.

If you have any questions about our re-opening plans, I would be happy to answer these via the usual channels.

Thank you for your continued support.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Cleaner.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Teaching Assistant 1:1 support (Trauma and Loss).

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

All year 10 students have been sent a survey to complete by Monday 13th July. They should find a link to the survey in their school e-mail inbox. This important feedback will help teachers in their planning for next year.

Due to the COVID-19 situation, the arrangements for this year's Results Days have been modified. Students have been sent information regarding the new arrangements via their school e-mail accounts.

If you think you have missed out, you can download a copy of the arrangements for this year's Results Days below:

Results Days Arrangements 2020

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon from LCS.

Thank you to those parents and carers who responded to our recent survey. The results can be viewd via the link below:
Survey Results: LCS COVID-19 Response

Overall we are pleased with the positive responses we have received from parents and carers. We are aware that what we have offered over the last few months is not perfect - it was never going to be - and there are issues and comments we will be taking on board to improve our future planning. As a school, the scenario we have been dealing with since March is not one we have ever faced, or thought we would have to face, in the past and, as such, there were no plans for it. I would like to pay tribute to all our staff for what they have done in offering the best we possibly could for our students and to the students themselves, as well as parents and carers, for their support in making it work. It has and will continue to be a team effort.

One regular question from the survey, and one I have been asked by several parents since closure, relates to the use of live streaming of lessons. I have attached a link below to an article from Schools Week which hopefully provides some additional context to the issue. I have spoken to a number of Headteachers in local schools who have shared our concerns over live streaming and, although this is a very good question raised by parents and carers, I can assure you it is not a case of every other school doing it where we are not.

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/coronavirus-teachers-warned-against-live-streaming-lessons/

Towards the end of last week, OFQUAL issued a consultation on exams and assessments for students who are due to sit exams in Summer 2021. I have attached the consultation at the link below, for all parents and carers interested in reading it; it will be of particular interest to parents and carers of students currently in Year 10 and Year 12. Details of the consultation and how to respond to it are contained in the document. We will respond as a school, once we have considered all of the points raised.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/897137/Consultation_on_proposed_changes_to_the_assessment_of_GCSEs__AS_and_A_levels_in_2021_020620.pd

We are at present continuing to plan for September, using the guidance received from the government last week. My last email update shared a couple of key elements of our plans already decided and I will provide further information as soon as possible.

The results of the Parent/Carer survey regarding LCS' response to the COVID-19 outbreak are now available. Thank you to everyone that sent in their feedback.

You can view the results here: Survey Results: LCS COVID-19 Response.

The LCS Careers department have sent out an important update to Year 10 Students and their parents/carers with regards to their planned work experience placements in September 2020.

You can find a copy of the letter under Parents > Communications > Letters Home.

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon from LCS.

We are at the end of another school week and I would like to, once again, pay tribute to all our students, parents and carers for their continued hard work and support.

A reminder that our parent/carer survey closes this evening, so please respond to the email link if you have not already done so. Thank you to those of you who have already submitted your views.

Yesterday we officially saw government guidelines for September reopening, which are extremely detailed and will take some time to fully digest. We have 3 weeks now before end of term to finalise and publish our own plans for September and, barring any local issues of rising infections or 'local lockdown', we are confident that we have time for the relevant plans and risk assessments to be drawn up and the necessary consultations to take place.

I can confirm now that we are planning for a full return for all students in September. How we do this has still to be finalised, but some decisions have already been made.

At this stage, the main things I can confirm are that school will not be open to students during the summer holidays, as I stated in my previous update.

We have also decided to hold our Induction events for our new Year 7 and Year 12 students, postponed from this term, on the first day of Autumn Term, 7th September. This means that only students from the new Year 7 and Year 12 groups will attend on that day and we aim for all other Year Groups to return to school on Tuesday September 8th.

All remaining details for our return to school in September will be shared as soon as they are finalised.

In other important matters, with the current national and local focus on racism and social inequality, I have been working on a joint statement on behalf of the school in response to current events. The statement has been agreed by myself, our Chair of Governors and Governing Board and representatives of staff unions as a joint school response and, I hope, speaks for itself. I have attached a link to the statement (below), which has been published on the school website.

http://www.littleover.derby.sch.uk/content/_alert/files/statement_equality.pdf

As a result of the current Covid-19 outbreak and development of the 'Track and Trace' programme, it has been necessary to update our Privacy Statement in relation to our sharing of data with outside agencies. A link to the statement addendum is below:

http://www.littleover.derby.sch.uk/content/data_protection/files/privacy_notice_covid.pdf

Finally, for your information, I have attached a link (below) to the latest government guidance on schools, for parents and carers. This guidance was last updated on July 1st.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak#resources-and-support

I hope you find the information above useful and, as always, I am happy to respond to any points or questions you would like to raise in relation to anything I have included in this email. Please contact me at school if you wish to and I will aim to reply to every message.

Enjoy the weekend. 
Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon from LCS.

We are still awaiting government guidance on wider school opening for September, however this seems increasingly likely to be arriving very soon and some apparent 'details' have already been widely published in the media. Until this guidance is officially published, anything said about its apparent contents would be speculation.

We have received a number of calls and emails from parents and carers this week, asking about summer opening. The following statement has been issued by the Department For Education this afternoon:

The Secretary of State for Education has confirmed that we are not asking schools to open over the summer holidays, and there is no expectation that schools should open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers over this period.

Our plan at LCS is to bring students back in September, government guidance allowing, and to assess at that point where their gaps in learning are from the last few months. We will then deploy resources to target these areas and to bring students back up to speed as quickly as possible. I will say more about this once the government guidelines are published.

Next, an apology. It seems our desire to allow a full period of consultation with parents and carers over the new RSE Curriculum has meant we have been premature in publishing our draft policy. The policy for consultation has been temporarily taken down from our website for a further, final check to be made. As soon as this has happened it will be re-posted and the consultation can continue. Our aim is for all parents and carers to have enough time to read the policy in full and to understand the details of the new national RSE guidelines. From this consultation period, we are hoping that all questions can be addressed ahead of the lesson content starting in the Spring Term 2021. Please read the document fully when it is re-posted and take the opportunity to engage in the consultation, if you wish to. Again, apologies for the 'false start' with this, but we are hoping to be able to re-post the document as soon as possible.

One final thing for today:
We have updated our website with information on Home-School Transport, including details on eligibility for assistance and updated Covid-19 guidance. This may clearly change before September and we will update you again if it does, but the information on our website is the most recent guidance. The relevant page on our website can be viewed at:

http://www.littleover.derby.sch.uk/information.php#transport

I will post another update when government guidance for September is published, hopefully later this week.

Thank you. 
Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

The LCS Child Africa urgent flood damage and COVID-19 appeal is ending this week.

Please use the Wisepay link and click on the Child Africa Urgent Disaster Appeal in the General Payments section to donate whatever you can to help Child Africa get vital food and supplies to the people we as a school have grown to care deeply about over the past 7 years.

Thank you.

Mrs Bush
LCS Uganda Project

Donate to Child Africa by logging into LCS WisePay

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon from LCS.

We have continued to see our Year 10 and Year 12 students in their respective 'bubbles' this week. I would once again like to pay tribute to the students for their effort and positive attitude throughout the last 2 weeks. It has been a pleasure to work with them.

There continues to be some fantastic work being done at home by students in Year 7 to 9, with great support from yourselves as parents and carers. Thank you all.

Inset Day Suspended

For your information, the INSET Day previously planned for Monday 13th July has been suspended, so Year 10 and Year 12 students who would normally attend on Mondays are expected to be in school. All vulnerable and Key Worker children can also attend on the day, as normal, and work will be set remotely for all Year Groups.

Parent/Carer Survey

For the last few years we have asked all parents and carers to complete an on-line survey during the summer term, to provide us with your views of the school. We are asking you to do the same again this year, with a particular focus on our work during the ongoing Covid-19 situation. The survey will be emailed to parents and we would ask for them to be completed and submitted by 8pm on Friday 3rd July.  Once responses have been collated we will post a summary of results on our website, hopefully before the end of this term. If you think you have missed out on the survey please contact the school via admin@littleover.derby.sch.uk to request a link.

Safety

I have also attached a link, below, to updated guidance on Keeping Children Safe Online. This is useful guidance for all parents and carers, as the current focus on remote working continues.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-keeping-children-safe-online

At this time of year we would be talking to students about the dangers of swimming in open water, particularly rivers, lakes and reservoirs as we approach the summer holidays. The link below to the United Utilities website contains some useful information and resources aimed at students, parents and carers, to make sure we all stay safe.

https://www.unitedutilities.com/about-us/recreation-sites/reservoir-safety/

Plans for September

I am aware many of you will be wanting to know about our plans for students returning in September, but we are yet to receive the government guidance on this. I have heard in the last two days that this may arrive by the end of next week. 

The current talk appears to be around creation of Year Group' bubbles' to allow all students to return full-time in September, which would obviously create a massive challenge for us with average Year Group sizes of around 300. As with our re-opening plans this month, we will wait until the guidance is issued and plan accordingly, in the best interests of all our students, parents, carers and staff.

As always, thank you for your continued support.

Stay safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: HLTA/Mentor.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon from a very wet LCS. Summer is here!

We have now seen all of our returning Year 10 and Year 12 students in their different 'bubbles' over the last 4 days. Turnout has been extremely high and it has been fantastic to see our students again.

It has been interesting watching students arrive over the last few days and how the initial nervousness when they arrived, particularly on Monday, has been replaced by relief and, dare I say, happiness of being back in school. All students who have attended this week have handled themselves in a mature and responsible manner and have made the whole experience an extremely positive one for all school staff. It really has been great to have them back and they have been a credit to you and to themselves.

We now start again from next Monday with the same groups, rooms and times as this week. If anything needs to change with any of the current arrangements I will let you know, but our plans have worked well this week and only minor adjustments have needed to be made. We look forward to seeing students back again from next Monday.

Remote learning has continued for students in Years 7-9.

As from next week we are taking a slightly different approach to how we are setting work for students in Year 9, to help them prepare for starting GCSE options in September. I hope students will respond to this change and begin looking and thinking positively towards the next stage of their careers at LCS.

Ms Doran and Mr Woods have been making additional contact with students in Year 7 and Year 8, respectively, and staff will continue to monitor how students are progressing. I would emphasise again the importance of students contacting their teachers if they need support and advice at any time, as I have received lots of feedback from students, parents and carers around the support students have been receiving from teaching staff and the positive impact this has had.

Throughout the period of school closure, teachers have been setting tasks broadly in line with their planned schemes of work for a normal Summer Term.  If students have kept up with what has been set to the best of their ability, they will have followed the usual schemes of work and progression of tasks expected of them in the classroom and will not need to engage in large-scale 'catching-up' when they return to school in the Autumn. I would again encourage students to contact teachers if they are concerned about falling behind and would advise parents and carers to contact relevant school staff if you have any concerns over your child's academic progress or well-being. 

Once we settle in to a pattern with returning students in Year 10 and Year 12, we will then begin planning for September. It is clear we will need several different plans to address the possible scenarios we may be facing at that time and it is possible that government guidance may come very late in the Summer Term. On this basis, I will communicate any plans to you as soon as I can, but it is fair to say this will not be within the next few weeks. I would respectfully ask parents and carers not to enquire about our plans for September at this stage, as I am not in the position to provide answers to your questions.

Throughout the last few months of school closure, the support we have received from students, parents and carers has been overwhelmingly positive. I can assure you I will do my best to keep you updated as much and as honestly as I can.

Thank you. Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

From Monday 22nd June, Year 9 students will be set work to prepare them for their GCSE options subjects.

We have added a section to the Students > COVID Information for Students page which contains the full details of the changes.

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents.

To all parents and carers.

Good evening from LCS.

Today has been our first day of partial re-opening to students in Year 10 and Year 12. It has been a real pleasure to see students again after such a long time and I hope they have benefited from the experience of being back in school. I am sure some students will have been nervous about returning today and I must admit to some 'first day nerves' myself, almost like it was the start of the school year all over again. I hope the students who joined us today have had a positive experience and can, in turn, help their friends to feel less anxious about returning in the coming days.

Today has gone extremely well with just some minor changes to our plans needed. The students who attended today all followed our instructions to the letter and have been a credit to themselves and their families. We are looking forward to more of the same for the remainder of this week and beyond.

One minor issue was the time some Year 10 students arrived this morning, as some were early and had to queue at the gates before being allowed in. I appreciate it is difficult for parents and carers, especially if there are other family and/or work commitments, but if students can keep to their stated arrival times, or not more than 5 minutes before, it would make their arrival and entry to premises a more pleasant experience.

Today would not have been possible without the cooperation of parents and carers and I thank you all for your continued support.

Thank you. Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents regarding partial reopening to select Year 10 and Year 12 students from Monday 15th June..

To all parents and carers.

After further safety checks of the school site this morning, I can confirm that we will be open for the first group of Year 10 and Year 12 students from Monday.
Our website has been updated with a revised version of the Year 10 student groupings, which can be viewed at the following link:

COVID Information for LCS Students

Please ensure your child has seen this new information regarding groups, as it has been updated since yesterday.

Before arriving at school, students need to be aware of their Science group, which can be found on Go4Schools if they are not sure. Students must also check their arrival time and correct entrance gate.

Mr Archer has already sent out all relevant information for Year 12 students, who should also arrive on Monday as per published timetables.

I would like to politely remind parents and carers at this time to keep to the guidelines issued for dropping and picking up of students from school. Please do this at the correct entrance gate and do not leave your vehicle.

Please make sure your child has read through all of the information on our website ahead of attending school next week. They should also be aware of the amended Behaviour Policy issued yesterday, although we hope and expect students to follow instructions and for no behaviour sanctions to be needed.

For parents and carers of students in Years 7-9, arrangements for remote learning will continue and any changes to this will be communicated via email.

Thank you all for your ongoing support. We are looking forward to seeing some of our students back in school from Monday.

Best wishes. Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Information for Year 12 students regarding tutor sessions in school and online lessons have been added to the COVID Information for Students page.

You can find it at Sixth Form > COVID Information for Students

We have created a page containing useful information for students during the Coronavirus Outbreak.

This page contains information about the arrangements for Year 10 returning to school.

You can find it at Students > COVID Information for Students

We have updated our Information for Parents page with some videos highlighting changes made to the LCS site to help comply with social distancing requirements.

You can find them at Information for Parents > Covid-19 Information.

LCS is raising money for Child Africa School in Uganda to help combat the effects of Coronavirus and severe flood damage.

As a school we have been visiting Child Africa School in Uganda for 7 years now, undertaking a variety of projects to improve the lives of the children there. This year's trip was unfortunately cancelled due to the Coronavirus and we were all devastated to learn that we could not go.

We have since received news that in Uganda the lives of the children, their families and the teachers at Child Africa Junior School have been blighted not only by Coronavirus but also by the worst monsoon season seen for years.

The Ugandan government has imposed a strict lockdown. Schools are closed meaning that children will not receive the vital hot meal that they rely on; the only hot meal of the day for many students.

Many of the families rely on casual labour for work, and this has been stopped in many cases by the lockdown. There is no benefit or furlough system, teachers are receiving no pay, and consequently many families have no money. Food prices have soared and floods have damaged houses and washed away the small areas that families use to grow crops to eat and sell.

Please use the Wisepay link and click on the Child Africa Urgent Disaster Appeal in the General Payments section to donate whatever you can to help Child Africa get vital food and supplies to the people we as a school have grown to care deeply about over the past 7 years.

Thank you.

Mrs Bush
LCS Uganda Project

Donate to Child Africa by logging into LCS WisePay

A survey has been sent out via email today to parents and carers of Year 10 and 12 students.

The purpose of this survey is for parents and carers to inform school of whether or not they will be sending their child(ren) in from 15th June, based on the plans issued by Mr Wilding on Friday 5th June.

If you do not receive this email today, please email admin@littleover.derby.sch.uk. A copy of the survey will be sent to you personally, on request.

Surveys should be submitted by 9pm tomorrow, Tuesday 9th June.

Thank you.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents regarding LCS partially re-opening to students.

You can download the full letter in PDF format from Parents > Communications > Letters Home.

To all parents and carers,

Since mid-March, school has been closed for all but vulnerable students and children of critical workers, due to the Covid-19 outbreak. This has created massive challenges for school, students, parents and carers in creating and maintaining an effective education for our young people during school closure. No system in this situation can ever be perfect, but I feel through our close work and communication together we have been able to make the best of the unprecedented challenges we have all had to face.

We are now at the point where government has announced a partial return to school for students in Year 10 and Year 12 for ‘some face-to-face support with their teachers, to supplement their remote education’. The most recent government announcement on 28th May made particular reference to the number of students schools should allow on site at any one time, with around ‘a quarter’ being the guidance offered. As the secondary school with the largest number of students in Derby and Year Groups of around 300, this will pose particular challenges for us in creating a plan for students to return, whilst maintaining social distancing and health and safety guidelines. The plan we have agreed is based on a wide range of considerations, but most importantly is a plan we feel is in the best interests of students and staff welfare and safety.

Our newest and largest classrooms seat a maximum of 12 students, with social distancing guidelines. Classrooms in the older part of the main school building seat a maximum of 8. These restrictions have significantly informed our planning and what we can, realistically, offer to students in Year 10 and Year 12 at this time.

I am aware some parents and carers may be disappointed with the details of our plan and would have wanted additional provision. I also accept some parents and carers will continue to have concerns over sending their children to school at all, at this time. The plan for partial re-opening we have agreed has been discussed with Unions, Governors and the Local Authority and is the best we feel we can offer, at this time.

Vulnerable students and children of critical workers can continue to attend on the same basis they have been since school closure began in March; there are no plans nationally for students in Years 7-9 to return to school until September. We will continue to set work remotely for all students in Year 7-9, with Heads of Year and Form Tutors making additional contact with students from a pastoral and well-being perspective.

The plans outlined below are, therefore, for the attention of parents and carers of students currently in Year 10 and Year 12. I would ask each parent and carer to share the following with their child(ren).

Whether you are a parent or carer of a student in Year 10, Year 12 or your child attends as a vulnerable child or child of a key worker, students must not be sent into school if they are displaying Covid-19 symptoms. Students displaying symptoms during the day will be removed to a room on their own until they are collected by parents or carers. Students who go home in these circumstances will be asked not to return until their period of self-isolation is complete, or if proof is provided of a negative test result for the Covid-19 virus.

If your child is due to attend and cannot do so due to illness, we ask parents and carers to contact school as per usual attendance policies to inform us of this. If your child is suffering with Covid-19 symptoms, you must inform school of this immediately and not send them in.

Latest government guidance has stated the following in regard to student attendance at this time: We strongly encourage children and young people in the eligible year groups and priority groups (such as children of critical workers) to attend, as requested by their school or college, unless they are self-isolating or there are other reasons for absence (such as shielding due to health conditions). You should notify your child’s school or college as normal if your child is unable to attend so that staff are aware and can discuss with you. Parents will not be fined for non-attendance at this time.

Due to social distancing guidelines related to public transport, students are asked to walk or bicycle to school. If students are arriving on bicycles, helmets should be worn as per usual school policy. We are not expecting the usual school bus to run from 15th June but, if this changes, we will inform parents and carers immediately.

Government guidance on transport to school for students can be found at the following link:
https://extranet.dft.gov.uk/safer-transport-campaign/schools/

Staff in school cannot handle cash at this time, therefore if students wish to purchase food in school there must be sufficient funds deposited on their Wisepay accounts. Alternatively, students may bring their own food to school, or eat once they have returned home.

Alongside this information, all parents and carers of students in Year 10 and Year 12 will be sent a survey we would ask to be completed and submitted as soon as possible. Once replies to the survey have been received, we will be able to confirm each student’s allocated group, entrance/exit and classroom.

When arriving at school, students must arrive at the time allocated to them and at the correct entrance. Students should not arrive early, as they may not be allowed entry onto school premises. Parents and carers bringing students to/collecting students from school by car must do this outside of the correct school entrance. Parents and carers should remain in their vehicles when dropping off/picking up students from school. Staff will be on hand to supervise entry and exit for students at each entrance and to enforce social distancing.

Students should only travel to school with family members and should only be brought to school in a vehicle with family members residing in the same house.

We would continue to ask for numbers of visitors to school for reasons other than bringing/collecting of students be kept to an absolute minimum at this time.

Our school Behaviour Policy has been amended to reflect guidelines on social distancing and controlling the Covid-19 virus. Staff in school will do as best they can to enforce social distancing, but this can never be completely guaranteed and the responsibility must also be on the individual student to follow the guidance and instructions given.

Our expectations of student behaviour on site and in the community travelling to/from school remains as it has always been. We are sure we can rely on students to follow instructions on their return to school and we hope that behavioural sanctions will not be required, but we will take action against students who are deliberately behaving in a manner likely to endanger the safety of others.

Government guidelines state that face masks should not be necessary in schools if social distancing is maintained, however we will allow students to wear face masks in school if they wish to do so. If face masks are worn, these must be of the disposable variety and not scarves/bandanas or another home-made style. Students will be asked to remove any face covering other than a disposable face mask on entering the school site and anything removed will need to be placed in a plastic bag, inside the student’s school bag.

I appreciate the information above is detailed and will take some time to read and digest. The subsequent survey being sent to you will provide the opportunity to state whether or not you will be choosing to send your child to school at this time, based on the plan outlined above. Within the survey, there is also an opportunity for all parents and carers to make additional comments.

We would respectfully ask that no additional communication be made or questions asked via phone or email at this time and that all comments be made through the survey. If it is clear that further clarification is required once survey results have been collected, additional guidelines will be issued and there will be opportunity to ask personal questions to school at that time.

My next communication with you will be to send the survey via email, which is planned for Monday 8th June. Responses will be requested as soon as possible, but at the latest by 9pm on Tuesday 9th June.

We will endeavour to start with the plan outlined above from 15th June. Final decisions on start dates will depend on the completion of necessary site safety work, as well as staff availability. If the plan outlined above cannot begin on 15th June itself, we will endeavour to begin as close to this date as possible. Final confirmation of this will be issued on Friday 12th June.

Thank you.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents.

Good afternoon from LCS. I hope this message finds you and your families safe and well.

As we start the final half-term of this academic year, we are also increasing our planning towards potential re-opening of school for additional face-to-face support for students in Year 10 and Year 12. The government announcement on 28th May did not change any of the ideas we had already discussed with regard to partial re-opening and has allowed us to move ahead to the next stage in our planning.

Meetings will be taking place in school with Unions and Governors over the next two days, after which point all parents and carers in Years 10 and 12 will be contacted with our plans for re-opening. At that stage, parents and carers will be asked whether they will be sending their child(ren) to school on the basis of the published plans.

If plans are accepted by Unions and Governors and parents and carers are happy to send children back to school, this could happen as early as 15th June. This is in line with government timescales and ahead of our original draft timescale of July.

It is now clear that students in Years 7,8 and 9 will not return to school until September. We will continue to set work remotely for students in these Year Groups and are looking to increase our contact with students, via telephone and email. We will also continue to remain open for vulnerable students and the children of critical workers, right through to the end of term on July 24th.

Please continue to support your child(ren) with the work being set and encourage them to contact teachers if they have particular concerns or questions. Please also continue to contact relevant staff as parents and carers if you have concerns about your child(ren), as outlined in my last update prior to the half-term holiday.

There is one final issue I would ask for your support with, if possible. We have recently received several complaints about litter and general anti-social behaviour of young people using the field adjacent to Fresco Drive, next to the main school site. This is a school field, although is used at times by members of the public as it is not completely fenced-off.

I have contacted Police and Derby City Council with regard to this issue and would ask for the support of parents and carers in asking students not to use this field in large groups, or for anything other than ball games. We have always allowed and encouraged students to use this field outside of school hours, as long as they do not leave litter and their behaviour does not cause issues for local residents. This remains the case, although it appears some members of the community are not keeping to these instructions and are not following current social distancing guidelines.
I am sure I can rely on your support in passing this message to students, to keep damage and issues for local residents to a minimum.

Thank you for your continued support. Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out a second update to parents.

To all parents and carers.

Apologies for the additional update. I will keep it very brief.

During yesterday afternoon, the government published additional guidance entitled ' Help Secondary School Children Continue Their Education During Coronavirus'.
The link to this document is below:

Help Secondary School Children Continue Their Education During Coronavirus

This is useful guidance and confirms advice we have been providing as a school. It also reminds parents and carers, as we have been, to contact school if they have any concerns around their child's work or well-being during school closure. I would encourage all parents and carers to do this and have listed below a reminder of relevant staff to contact with general concerns. Please also encourage your child to communicate with their class teachers via email, if they have any questions or issues with work being set.

General questions or concerns can be sent to the following staff via email. This should initially be via the school email address, available on our website.

Mr J Wilding - Acting Headteacher
Mrs J Bunting/Mr A McElhone - Deputy Headteachers
Ms L Wilson - Assistant Headteacher ( Year 6 Induction/Looked After Children/ Key Stage 3 )
Mrs L Craven/Ms L Jenkins - Safeguarding and Well-Being
Mr R Archer - Head of Sixth Form

Heads of Year

Ms S Doran - Year 7
Mr J Woods - Year 8
Mr K Bowler - Year 9
Ms H Walker/ Mr G Wilson (Assistant Heads of Year) - Year 10
Mr G Moses - Year 11
Mr R Archer - Year 12/13

Please retain this information for any future communications, once we resume setting of work from June 1st.

Thank you. Take care.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents.

To all parents and carers,

Good afternoon. I hope this message finds you all safe and well.

As I type this, I am unaware of the promised further government guidance on potential Secondary School re-opening being published. Our SMT and Site Manager met on Wednesday morning to form preliminary plans for the potential re-opening of school to students in Year 10 and Year 12 next half-term, which, when finalised, will be discussed with staff and relevant unions. Without the additional government guidance, this process is currently on hold.

Assuming the additional guidance is issued within the next few days, we are told that the final decision on whether schools will re-open will be taken by government on 28th May, taking the current available scientific evidence into account. We will now await the publication of the guidance, as well as any announcement on 28th May, before moving the process forward. Our timescale for potential re-opening remains as I have previously stated.

As we approach the half-term holiday, a reminder that teachers should not be setting work for students today and tomorrow, to allow the 'catch-up' time requested by numerous parents and carers. Some work may be set for students in Year 10 over the holiday and school will remain open for the vulnerable students and children of key workers wishing to attend; school will be closed on Bank Holiday Monday, 25th May.

I have attached below a link to a short video and associated advice issued by ThinkuKnow, related to on-line learning and safety. I hope you find the information on use:

ThinkuKnow - Online Learning and Safety

I would like to congratulate all our students for their continued efforts and resilience during the last half-term. They really are exceptional young people and thoroughly deserve a rest from work over the next week.
To all our parents and carers, also, I say thank you for your continued support, especially those of you who have sent supportive emails or posted positive comments on our social media pages. Your support has kept us all going in these challenging times, whether it be those of us who are in school or those staff working from home.

Finally, I would like to wish our Muslim students and families Eid Mubarak for this weekend, at the end of what must have been a particularly unique and challenging month of Ramadan.

Best wishes. Take care.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Teacher of English and Media Studies (Maternity Cover).

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Littleover Community School will be open for EHCP/LAC children and for Children of Key Workers over the Half term Holiday.  This will be for four days, Tuesday 26th – Friday 29th May, from 8.40am to 3.15pm.

We are planning some sports and craft activities to make the provision a bit different to what we have done during term time. Computers will be available and students can carry on with homework tasks if they wish to. Students will NOT be expected to wear school uniform.

Timetable for each day

We will be able to provide food, but this will be limited to sandwiches, plus a carton of juice and crisps or a cookie. This will be served in the main Hall. Students may of course bring their own food.

We understand that some parents may need to use this facility for all four days, and others for just one or two days. We can be flexible to accommodate your needs, but please let us know which days to expect your child.

Mrs Bunting
Deputy Headteacher

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Teaching Assistant.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents.

To all parents and carers,

A very brief update from me today.

I have included the link (below) to the government document for parents and carers issued this week.

There have been numerous publications and updates issued by government and teaching unions this week and our assessment of the current situation remains ongoing. The document below includes all the relevant information for parents and carers, as things currently stand.

As the document states:
'Schools and other settings should communicate their plans to parents once they have had a chance to work through them in detail'.

At LCS this is and always has been our plan and we will continue to update you regularly as things develop.

Government Information for Parents and Carers Re: School Reopening.

Best wishes and keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents.

To all parents and carers,

Following the government's announcement yesterday evening, it is clear that school closure will continue for some time yet, particularly in the Secondary sector. A copy of the detailed document 'Our Plan to Rebuild' has been sent via email to schools this afternoon and we will be taking time to review the contents of this document over the next 24 hours.

Practically speaking, I have asked staff to continue setting work as they have been so far, with a further review of the situation at the start of next half-term. Following feedback from parents, carers and students, we have asked staff to allow students some time to catch up by not setting any new work on Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd May. This will allow students the 'breathing space' requested by the majority of parents and carers who have been contacting us in recent weeks. If students feel they are up to date and do not need this time to catch up, they should use the time to revise and review the work they have completed so far. They can also continue to access tasks via Mathswatch, Doddle and/or The Oak Academy, as many are already doing. As I have mentioned previously, staff will not set work over the May half-term holiday and we would encourage students to take this time to rest and focus on more non-school related activities to benefit their physical, as well as mental health.

Although no formal timescale has been outlined by government so far, we are working on the basis that any return to school for exam classes in Year 10 and Year 12 will not be before mid-July; if further guidance is provided, this may obviously change. If and when this happens, we will put a plan together to manage student numbers on site in order to adhere to social distancing; this would be shared with parents, carers and students nearer the time. At present, we are waiting for further guidance on the possible return to school for students in Years 7-9.

As students continue to work from home and following feedback and questions from parents and carers, I have attached a link to a Parent Resource Hub related to safety on line and with social media. This is from an organisation called The Key, which we have recently subscribed to in school. I hope it is of use to you.

The Key - Parent Resource Hub

One of the main things I am concerned about as school closure continues is the lack of personal contact between students and school staff. In recent weeks, our well-being and SEND teams, as well as Heads of Year, have been contacting parents, carers and students to check on the welfare of as many students as possible. We have also been keen to update our social media accounts with fun activities involving school staff, to maintain informal as well as formal communications between students and school. It is very difficult, though, for us to make personal contact with all students at the moment and I would encourage those of you concerned about your child to email or call school to request contact from a member of staff. We will endeavour to contact all those students where requested, as well as continuing with our existing planned communications. I have recorded a brief Instagram message for students this afternoon encouraging them to get in touch with us if they are finding things difficult working from home and I would appreciate if you could inform your child about this message, or show it to them.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We will continue to work together until this current situation is behind us and we can start planning ahead for the future.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents.

To all parents and carers,

As we approach the end of another week of school closure, we await the government announcement on potential re-opening of schools, scheduled for Sunday. Once this announcement has been made, regardless of what it may contain, it will take us time as a school to assess and decide on the action we will need to take.

I would respectfully request that parents and carers do not contact us with questions related to potential school re-opening at this present time, as I will be communicating any decisions made to you as soon as it is appropriate to do so. There has been a lot said on this topic of late, some of which has been confusing and unhelpful, and I will be relieved personally when we know what the government's plans for schools actually are.

This week we have again seen some outstanding examples of work being completed by students at home. Please thank your children for their continued efforts and for their responses to the forms sent out by Form Tutors, which were returned in impressive numbers. Heads of Year will be contacting students who did not return their forms over the next few days, to check all is well and to make sure students have no concerns.

This week on our social media pages, we have also seen contributions from our Year 10 Tutor Team by way of a tribute to Friends, filmed by staff from home. We hope students enjoyed this, along with other messages staff have been posting over the last few weeks. It is important, as well as the setting of work, that we maintain a more informal and personal connection with students and there are plans for further such posts in the future.

As I said in my previous update, school will be closed on Friday and no work will be set by teaching staff. I hope students will be able to use the long weekend to recharge their batteries from what has been a very busy few weeks since the Easter holiday.

Finally, a massive thank you to anyone who has donated materials to Mr Smith, who has been in school making hundreds of PPE masks for local hospitals and organisations. We have enough acetate in school to make 700 masks, but need other materials for the headbands. Details of the materials required have been posted today on our Facebook and Twitter sites and we would be extremely grateful for further donations.

I will issue a further update early next week. Thank you for your continued support.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents.

To all parents and carers,

Good afternoon from LCS.
I hope this latest update finds you and your families safe and well. It seems like a lifetime since we were open to all students, but I have been reminded that today is only day 19 of school closure, which has put things into a little more perspective.

Star Academies has recently launched StarLine, a free national helpline to provide parents with home education advice while schools are closed. StarLine offers parents tips and techniques from qualified teachers, education and parenting experts, and suggests online resources to help children learn at home. It covers all areas of the curriculum and all stages of education, as well as family wellbeing, children’s behaviour, and SEND. The helpline is open Sunday–Friday and all calls are confidential – further details and contact information can be found on the StarLine website 

https://www.starline.org.uk/. 

From a school perspective we continue to monitor updates and announcements from the DfE and Public Health England, with regard to possible dates for schools to re-open. As yet there is no set timescale for this, but we are expecting some guidelines to be announced fairly soon. It is clear that any re-opening of schools will be phased and not all students will be attending each day. LCS, as any other school, will face the challenge of social distancing in classrooms and corridors, which are no wider than 2 metres in most areas of the school building. We will, however, work as best we can and will find a workable solution when the time comes.

Following Senior Management discussions this morning, we have made the decision not to issue any further progress Reports for students this academic year. Each Year Group has had either an Interim Report, Full Report or Parents' Evening before school closure and we feel any further issuing of progress grades this year would be inappropriate. We will be looking at our Reporting and Parents' Evening cycle from September and will make necessary adjustments to make sure parents, carers and students receive the necessary progress information, once the new academic year begins. I am aware this will be frustrating and disappointing for many of you, however we felt it the best decision to make rather than issue progress grades that could not, realistically, be accurate.

As well as continuing to set work for students, we have begun looking at plans for our Induction process, both for new Year 7 and Year 12 students for September. In both cases, this process will clearly not be able to run as it has previously and we are looking at alternative methods of providing the relevant information. We will be informing parents, carers and students of our revised Induction programs as soon as they are finalised.

As always, thank you for your continued understanding and support during the current school closure. Please encourage your children to follow the activities being posted on our social media sites, as well as completing the work set by teachers. Ms Wilson will soon be posting a competition on the theme of school staff and their pets, so make sure you don't miss out!

Best wishes and keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents.

To all parents and carers,

Good afternoon from LCS, at what is the end of another unusual week.

Thank you all again for the messages of support we have been receiving and for your help and encouragement with students completing work from home. A lot of the work students are sending back to us is of an excellent quality and it is clear many students are taking a great deal of time and care over the tasks being set. Once again, this shows the exceptional young people we have as students at LCS. They are a credit to the school and, more importantly,  to yourselves as families.

I would like to remind all students that we only expect them to produce work to the best of their ability and that times indicated by staff on Go4Schools are for guidance only. We do not expect students to spend excessive amounts of time on tasks in certain subjects, to the detriment of others. We also do not want students to put themselves under unnecessary pressure and stress to complete work at home. They must also take time to rest and look after their mental, as well as physical health.

Form Tutors have sent out a task to all students this week to check how they are getting on and to find out the sort of activities students have been taking part in during school closure. We have had some excellent responses already to this and we would ask all students to respond to their Tutor by next Wednesday. We are also encouraging students, parents and carers to interact via our Facebook and Instagram pages, so please feel free to send things in to us if you can.

I would like to send a particular message to our Muslim students at the start the holy month of Ramadan, which will be a unique and unusual experience in the current circumstances. Our best wishes to all students and families. Ramadan Mubarak.

I will continue to update you next week and will pass on any further links to useful resources, as and when we receive them. My last update contained several such resource links, which I hope you have found useful. 

Best wishes from all staff at LCS.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Teacher of Spanish or Head of Spanish

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Mr Wilding has sent out an update to parents.

To all parents and carers,

Good afternoon. I hope you are all safe and well.

Just a brief update for today, with some more links to useful information and activities during school closure. We receive numerous updates each day with links to useful sites and resources, but the ones attached below may be of particular use to you.

Resources

ThinkUKnow have added further information to their online safety advice for parents, carers and students. This can be found at the following link:

https://mailchi.mp/8b4d65c61324/online-safety-at-home-from-thinkuknow-21-04-20?e=7b7b9b48db

Amazon have made hundreds of audible books available to young people without subscription. These can be accessed at the link below:

https://stories.audible.com/start-listen

The National Theatre have recently launched 'National Theatre At Home', where productions can be accessed on-line for families to watch at home. The link for this is:

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home

BBC Bitesize have added a lot of resources to their site to support students during school closure. The link for this is below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

Free School Meals

Finally, you may be aware of a recent temporary extension of Free School Meal eligibility to families who have no access to public funds. The details of this are at the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/guidance-for-the-temporary-extension-of-free-school-meals-eligibility-to-nrpf-groups

If you believe your child is eligible under these new guidelines, please email wisepay@littleover.derby.sch.uk 

Our kitchen staff have asked if parents/carers of students currently attending school could make sure school meal accounts are topped up through Wisepay, to avoid staff having to handle cash. If students attending are eligible for Free School Meals, this will continue to be automatically credited to their account.

That's it from LCS today. Please look out for further updates on Friday.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent out another update to parents.

To all parents and carers,

Hello again. I hope this message finds you well and that you have all had a break, of some sort, over Easter. We will be setting work for students again from today, using the same methods as previously. We will also be returning to updating students, parents and carers regularly via email and social media; I have recorded a brief message to students on Instagram this afternoon and would be grateful if you could ask your child(ren) to look at it, or show it to them.

I am aware that some students will have found the work being set before Easter extremely challenging and that some will be concerned about not completing tasks. Please assure your child(ren) that we are only asking them to complete tasks to the best of their ability and, as long as they are doing so, there will be no sanctions issued to students when school re-opens. We obviously want students to complete as much work as possible, but we understand that timescales need to be flexible under the circumstances.

We have today started work on awarding of GCSE and A level 'Centre Assessment Grades' for students due to sit exams this summer. Mr McElhone will be sending a separate, more detailed, email to parents and carers of students this applies to. Mr McElhone's email will also include a link to the OFQUAL Consultation for Exam Grading and Assessment 2020, which can be responded to by parents and carers up to Wednesday 29th April. Schools have until 29th May at the earliest to finalise these grades and cannot share any of the information with students, parents or carers at any time. As Mr McElhone's more detailed email says, we appreciate you allowing us the time to complete this process in the fairest way possible and we respectfully ask that you do not contact school to ask about individual cases; we would not be able to respond.

I apologise to parents and carers of students eligible for Free School Meals, as there have been significant problems with issuing of e-vouchers over the last 2 weeks. This is a national issue with the website and is not related to us as a school. We believe the issue has now been rectified and parents and carers should be receiving their back-dated e-vouchers soon. 

Please note that the Safeguarding and Wellbeing sections of the LCS website are being regularly updated with useful links to support information and services which provide help during these uncertain times.

Thank you again for your support and cooperation during this time. I will issue a further update in a few days.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

School will be open from Monday 20th April onwards for children of key workers and EHCP/LAC students. (We will be closed for the Bank Holiday on Friday 8th May). The Government advises that children should be at home if possible.

If you need your child to attend school next week (and further forwards) please email provision@littleover.derby.sch.uk so that we know who to expect. We understand that some parents may just need to send their children on particular days, this is fine, just send the details of which dates they will be attending. Students should wear school uniform and report to D7 at 8.40am. Students will use the time to get on with work that is being set on Go4 schools. There will be teachers from different subjects on duty over the week so that students can ask for help on anything they find difficult. There will be a small selection of food to buy in the Dining Room, or students may bring their own sandwiches.

Mrs Bunting

Deputy Headteacher

Mr Wilding has published an end of term update.

To all parents and carers.

We have reached the end of what I was expecting to be a challenging term, being my first as Acting Headteacher. No one could have predicted, though, how challenging it has turned out to be.

As a school we have done our very best to put procedures in place for setting of work and for regular communication with parents and students. I would like to thank all of you who have taken the time to get in touch, especially for the overwhelmingly positive responses we have had. It is much appreciated.

As mentioned in my previous updates, I have now asked all staff to stop setting work for students and to observe what would have been the Easter holiday period, until Monday 20th April. I believe we all need time to rest and recuperate, especially our students who have been through such a stressful time over the last 2 weeks. For staff, also, it is vital they can spend time with their families to reflect on recent events and to rest, so we can all come back stronger at the start of next term. As no new work will be set over the next 2 weeks, we would also not expect students to be doing any ‘catching up’ of work they are still to complete; there will be plenty of time for this when next term begins. We have tried to send out as many ideas for exercise, relaxation and other non-work related activities as possible and I hope there are enough ideas out there to keep all students occupied.

School will remain open over Easter for vulnerable children and children of key workers, where this has previously been arranged between parents/carers and Mrs Bunting. This will be along the lines of a holiday club and no school work will be set.

Earlier today, emails were sent to students in Year 11 and Year 13, from Mr McElhone and Mr Archer, respectively. These messages include a link to a letter sent to all schools this morning by OFQUAL related to awarding of GCSE and A Level grades. As this information has only arrived in school today, we will be taking time to read through it carefully and fully assess its implications. We would, therefore, respectfully ask if no related questions could be emailed to school at this present time. Staff will be working on the awarding of these grades from the start of next term and OFQUAL have allowed a significant period of time for this process to happen.

Please keep safe over the next few weeks and thank you all again for your support.

Mr J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

LCS has sent communication to all relevant students and parents regarding GCSE and A-level grading.

Dear Parents/Carers,

Ofqual and the DfE have, this morning, released further details of how grades will be awarded for GCSEs, AS and A-Levels.

Please follow the link below to a letter explaining this process for you:

Letter to Students re: Summer Grading

We would politely request, as it clearly states in the guidance, to not contact staff or school to discuss your child's predicted grades.

We have sent the same information to your child via email.

Thank you for your understanding in these difficult times.

Mr A McElhone
Acting Deputy Headteacher

The LCS Safeguarding department has issued an addendum to the school Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

You can find out more at School > Policies.

Mrs Bush, our SEND Co-ordinator has released an amendment to the LCS SEND report to provide extra information due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

You can find it, along with other SEND information, at Parents > Special Educational Needs.

Please keep an eye on our new Wellbeing section for advice and things to do during the coronavirus outbreak. We have recently added a daily checklist to help keep our students and their parents ticking along!

Safeguarding & Wellbeing > Wellbeing at LCS > Safeguarding and Wellbeing during the Coronavirus Outbreak

The LCS Safeguarding department has also issued an addendum to the school Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

You can find out more at School > Policies.

LCS recognises that taking care of the environment is extremely important. We are happy to announce that we have agreed a new arrangement for school waste which means that none of our school waste is sent to landfill!

You can find the agreement under School > Policies > Zero Waste to Landfill.

Littleover Community School will be open for EHCP/LAC children and for Children of Key Workers over the Easter Holiday.  This will be for four days each week, Monday 6th – Thursday 9th April and Tuesday 14th – Friday 17th April, from 8.40am to 3.15pm.

The Government’s advice is that children should be at home if possible.

For the two weeks of Easter Holiday Club we are planning some sports and craft activities to make the provision a bit different to what we have done during term time. Computers will be available, and students may wish to bring in games, reading books and puzzle books. Students can carry on with homework tasks if they wish to. Students will NOT be expected to wear school uniform.

We will be able to provide food, but this will be limited to cheese sandwiches, plus a carton of juice and crisps or a cookie. Students may of course bring their own food.

We understand that some parents may need to use this facility for all eight days, and others may send children just one or two days a week. We can be flexible to accommodate your needs, but please let us know which days to expect your child.

If you wish to use the Easter Holiday Club for your child, please email j.bunting@littleover.derby.sch.uk with details of your child’s name, year group and the days they will be attending.

We have added new safeguarding and wellbeing information to support parents and students during the Coronavirus outbreak.

You can find out more under Safeguarding & Wellbeing > Safeguarding at LCS.

Whilst we await clarification from the government, predicted grades have been temporariliy locked from parents and students.

Dear Parents/Carers,

During the last week staff were in the process of reviewing the predicted grades for Year 11. Not all staff had finished this process. Obviously national events have overtaken this process so we have temporarily locked these from parents and students until we have a clear picture of what the situation is with regards to the awarding of grades in the summer.

We will update you and your child as soon as we have further information in this regard.

Thank you for your patience and understanding at a stressful time for all.

Mr McElhone
(Acting Deputy Headteacher)

Due to the school closure as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, the LCS Sports and Fitness Centre will be closed until further notice.

This is a difficult time for us all, but the welfare of our visitors and staff must always come first. We will temporarily close our doors to the public in response to the government’s latest advice concerning the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Please keep checking LCS web page where we will be providing any further information and updates.

We would like to thank you all for your continued support and we look forward to welcoming you back in person in the future.

Best wishes
LCS Gym Staff

Unfortunately, due to the uncertain nature of current events, the Year 8 France Trip has been cancelled.

Dear Parents/Carers

It is with sincere regret that I confirm that I have taken the decision to cancel the planned France trip for our Year 8 Students this summer.

The health and wellbeing of our students and staff is my priority during this uncertain time which makes the cancellation of the trip unavoidable.

At present we cannot contemplate an alternative date for the trip to take place and therefore confirm that we will endeavour to refund your payments. We are currently in conversation with our Tour Operator and our Insurance company and as soon as we are in a position to be clear on the refund amounts, I will be in touch.

Please be assured that I will not stretch the refund process any longer than is necessary and it is my intention to reimburse as soon as I receive confirmation from our Insurers.

Thank you for your understanding.

Your sincerely

Mr J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

A guide for LCS students to access work from home during school closures is now available.

You can find it under Students > Work During School Closures

Unfortunately, the PSA Curry and Quiz Night scheduled for Thursday 26th March has been postponed.

Please contact the source of your tickets with regards to a refund.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Head of Spanish.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Year 9 Spanish students spent 3 days in Madrid from Wednesday 5th February to Saturday 8th February.

We had a fabulous time trying tapas, watching flamenco, visiting Real Madrid home stadium, Santiago Bernabeu and even meeting up face to face with our Spanish penpals at their own school!

We loved learning about Bull fighting at the Plaza de Toros and enjoyed our final afternoon in the sunshine in Madrid's beautiful Retiro Park.

All in all a fantastic trip where we spoke lots of Spanish, made friends for life and came away loving the Madrid way of life and their culture.

Friday 13th March is a Non-Uniform Day at LCS.

This event is organised by LCS School Council students. Money raised will be split between Sport Relief and WWF Australian Bushfire Relief.

A wide range of useful information for both parents and students on how to keep safe can be found at the recently updated www.saferderbycity.org website.

Topics covered include:

• Knife Crime
• Gangs
• Anti-social Behaviour
• Child Criminal Exploitation / county lines
• Sexting
• Online Safety

Derby Adult Learning Service, who provide Adult Education at LCS, are holding a series of open days in the coming months.

Download a list of Derby ALS Open Days.

In addition, information about a range of new Adult Education courses can be found on the Adult Education Page.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Administrative Assistant (Careers/PSHE/Sixth Form)

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Student Services Manager/SIMS Manager.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Year 12 students should have received a letter regarding the upcoming Year 12 Parents' Evening.

This letter has a reply slip which must be returned.

You can download a copy from Sixth Form > Letters Home.

Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust has issued an alert regarding the misuse of drugs in vaping liquids.

More information can be found in the Safeguarding page under "Where can i get support" > Breakout. or by clicking here.

Smoking, including vaping, is banned at LCS along with drugs and psychoactive substances. More information about this and the associated sanctions can be found in the School Behaviour Policy.