Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers, 

As we approach the end of the Spring Term, I would like, once again, to pay tribute to our fantastic students and staff for their work over the last few months. There has been a really positive working atmosphere throughout this term so far and students have made excellent progress, across all Year Groups. 

I would also like to recognise the additional pressures students in Year 11 and Year 13 will be under in the coming weeks, as they approach their GCSE and A Level exams next term. Students have worked hard to get to this point and deserve success. I have no doubt they will all do themselves proud when the time comes. 

Covid-19 

Cases of Covid-19 have been higher amongst students and staff this week. We are also seeing a rising number of potentially symptomatic students and have needed to send some students home if they were exhibiting symptoms during the school day. 

There is currently significant strain on staff cover and we are bringing in additional supply staff, to cover absence. Sourcing supply staff is not easy at the moment, as most other schools are experiencing similar staff shortage issues. 

A number of our staff have been quite unwell in recent weeks and have been unable to set cover work for their classes. 

We will do our best to keep all students in school, but cannot guarantee that we will not need to move some groups to remote learning at some point in the future; several schools have already needed to do this, due to staff absence. 

From tomorrow, 1st April, national guidance on testing and self-isolation will change. We are asking all students to continue testing twice weekly to the end of term and I would remind parents and carers not to send your child into school if they have any symptoms of Covid-19. 

Public Health guidance will remain beyond the end of March, as it does for other infectious diseases, such as sickness and diarrhoea. The advice for anyone who knows that they have COVID-19 is to stay at home for at least 5 days. 

In the absence of revised guidance for schools on the ‘Living with Covid’ strategy, I would politely ask that parents and carers continue to follow the current guidance on self-isolation, until further notice.

We have been told to expect the 5-11yr vaccination programme to open for booking, on the online portal, from the beginning of April. The current vaccination programme in schools will, therefore, end. Information on the vaccination programme can be found at the link below: 

NHS UK - Vacinnation Programme Information 

School will not be able to track cases of Covid-19 as we have so far, with the removal of testing and mandatory self-isolation nationally. The only way we will continue to keep students and staff safe and manage levels of Covid-19 in school is if we all follow sensible precautions and act in the best interests of our own children and the school as a whole. 

A reminder that the end of term is at 3pm on Friday 8th April. Students return to school on Tuesday 26th April, as Monday 25th is INSET for staff. 

Finally, all at LCS would like to wish Ramadan Mubarak to all students and members of our school community beginning the month of Ramadan this weekend. 

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

Keep safe. 

J Wilding
Headteacher

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Design and Technology Technician.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding a recent increase in Covid-19 cases.

To all parents and carers, 

Good morning, from LCS.

We are seeing an increase in cases of Covid-19 this week, amongst students and staff. Our experiences are being replicated in many other schools across the city and nationally.

Please continue not to send your child into school if they have any symptoms of Covid-19 and follow self-isolation guidance if your child tests positive, either through PCR or LFT testing. This advice remains in place nationally until 1st April.

As an added measure to protect students and staff, I would be grateful if all students could resume twice-weekly testing for Covid-19, for the last 2 weeks of this term. I would ask students to resume testing on a Sunday and Wednesday evening and for these test results to be reported via the school reporting portal. Students were issued with additional test kits earlier this term and should have enough tests to do this.

Students wishing to wear face coverings in school can continue to do so.

Thank you for your continued support.

Keep safe.

J Wilding
Headteacher

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

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding Covid-19, extra-curricular activites, and site security.

To all parents and carers, 

Good afternoon, from LCS.

We have been very busy in school, as usual, over the last few days and students continue to make excellent progress across all Year Groups. School attendance is beginning to increase towards pre-Covid levels, although we do continue to have a small number of Covid-19 cases in school, amongst students and staff. As we have said before, this is likely to remain the situation for the foreseeable future and there may be future ‘spikes’ in cases in classes, Year Groups, or the school as a whole. As things stand, however, there is no reason at this time to change our current rules and Covid-19 guidance in school, but we are constantly monitoring the situation and will update students, staff parents and carers if needed. 

The link below is to the latest government guidance on Covid-19, including ongoing guidance on self-isolation: 

• Latest Gov.uk COVID-19 Guidance 

Extra-curricular activities and clubs 

We have updated our list of clubs and extra-curricular activities on the school website and I have attached the link to this information, below. Staff continue to give their time on a regular basis to offer students a fun and varied range of extra-curricular activities and we would like as many students as possible to participate. If your child does not currently take part in our extra-curricular programme, please ask them to look at the list of activities to see if there is anything they would be interested in:

• Extra Curricular Activities at LCS 

School site security 

We have further reviewed our school site security and will be making some additional changes, from Monday.

The Fresco Drive entrance gate will now be closed to vehicles before school. The pedestrian gate will be opened by staff on duty and students will be allowed on site at their usual time, so students using this entrance to school in the morning can continue to do so and do not need to change their current routine. 

Students accessing site early, however, for example to attend clubs or to visit the Library, will now only be able to access the school site through the main Pastures Hill gate. 

Sixth Form students can continue to access both gates, using their ID cards. 

This change is to make the school site even more secure for students and staff and is not in response to any increased concern over site security. As with the appointment of our Security Officer in the Autumn, this was always part of our longer-term plans for the school site. 

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

Keep safe.

J Wilding
Headteacher 

LCS has vacancies for the position of: Teacher of Languages.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Friday 18th March is a non-uniform day at LCS in support of Comic Relief.

It is suggested that students donate £1. No ripped clothing/slogans.

Timetables for Year 11 and 13 Mock exams in March 2022 are now available to download.

You can download them from the Exams Information page.

Dr Robyn Dewis, director of public health, has sent a message to parents/carers regarding COVID-19.

Dear Parents/Carers,

We are moving into a new phase in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the number of people infected in our community remains high and some people are still at risk of serious illness from infection. The pandemic is not yet over.

For the month of March testing is still available and guidance remains to stay at home and take a test if you or your family member have symptoms. Our PCR testing sites remain open, and tests can still be ordered online.

If your child tests positive for COVID-19 they should stay at home for at least 5 days and can continue to use lateral flow tests on day 5 and 6 to check if they are able to return to school. The only change is that this is no longer a law, it is now guidance.

Lateral flow (rapid) tests are still available for free during March, from April this will end for most of us; currently you can still pick them up from local pharmacies and order them online.

Guidance has changed, we are no longer advised to test twice a week, but we are still advised to use these tests to reduce risks to others; for example before seeing elderly relatives or those in poor health.

Please remember the simple things that we can all do to reduce spread of COVID-19 and other viruses:

• Keep up to date with vaccinations when offered
• Open windows or meet outside
• Wear a face covering, if you can, if you are in crowded indoor areas 
• Wash your hands regularly and cover your coughs and sneezes
• Avoid vulnerable people if you are unwell.

We will contact you again when the national guidance is updated for April onwards.

Thank you for continuing to work with us to ensure we can live safely with COVID-19.

 Yours sincerely

 Dr Robyn Dewis,
 Director of Public Health

Mr Wilding has sent a brief update to parents and carers regarding Covid-19 guidance.

To all parents and carers, 

This is a very brief message, as I have been asked to pass on the latest government guidance regarding Covid-19.

The latest guidance can be found at the link below:

Government COVID-19 Guidance

Further to my message yesterday, the above guidance clarifies that:

Children and young people with COVID-19 should not attend their education setting while they are infectious. They should take an LFD test from 5 days after their symptoms started (or the day their test was taken if they did not have symptoms) followed by another one the next day. If both these tests results are negative, they should return to their educational setting if they normally attend one, as long as they feel well enough to do so and do not have a temperature. They should follow the guidance for their educational setting.

All other relevant information is as stated in my message from yesterday.

I will update all parents and carers further, if and when our Covid-19 guidance for students changes.

Keep safe.

J Wilding
Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding Covid-19 guidance.

To all parents and carers, 

I am writing to you all this evening with the latest update on national Covid-19 guidance for schools, ahead of the start of half-term tomorrow.

The most relevant points of the new guidance and what we are asking of all students, parents and carers are as follows:

• National advice for staff and students to test for Covid-19 twice weekly through home LFD tests has now been removed.We continue to ask all students to test at home today before returning to school tomorrow,but after today students should exercise discretion to use home test kits if necessary, for example when they may have Covid-19 symptoms, if they are a close contact of a positive case, or to return to school at the end of a self-isolation period. On-going testing for close contacts is no longer advised and, as a school, we can no longer order test kits for students and staff, unless we have an outbreak of cases. It is now up to all of us to use the test kits we have in the most sensible and effective manner possible, to minimise the risk of students being in school with Covid-19.
• Children testing positive for Covid-19 continue to be advised to self-isolate for 5 days, although the legal requirement for this has been removed.We continue to ask all students with Covid-19 to self-isolate and not come into school for 5 full days, only returning when they have received 2 consecutive negative LFD tests and are no longer symptomatic.I would respectfully ask for the support of all students, parents and carers with this, as schools do have the power to refuse entry to students with Covid-19 symptoms. To avoid this having to happen, please continue to exercise caution where you suspect your child may have the Covid-19 virus and do not send them into school before test results have been received.
  
  We would advise all students to:

• Stay at home if unwell.
• Book a PCR test if they have Covid-19 symptoms and stay at home until results are received.
• Continue to follow good hand hygiene and the 'Catch it, Bin it, Kill it' principle.

• We will review our current approach to Contact Tracing, as this has now been removed from all national Covid-19 guidance and there is no longer the option of schools routinely ordering additional test kits for students.
• Students who would prefer to wear a face covering in school can continue to do so for the time being. We will review this after a couple of weeks of the new half-term, when case numbers after this latest change to guidelines are clearer.

We will continue to communicate closely with our local Public Health team and follow their guidance in the event of a local outbreak. We continue to maintain our Outbreak Management Plans and will communicate any changes to guidance in school to all parents and carers,  where necessary.

I hope we can continue to maintain our close working relationship with all students, parents and carers in the weeks and months ahead. Covid-19 is still around and will continue to impact on the running of the school. Hopefully, by continuing to work together, we can keep this impact to a minimum.

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

Keep safe.

J Wilding
Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding Covid-19, Rolls-Royce apprenticeships and Storm Eunice.

To all parents and carers, 

Good afternoon, from LCS.

A brief update from me this afternoon, as we approach the end of this half-term.

Covid-19

Cases of Covid-19 amongst students have reduced this week and cases over the last 10 days are currently 1/3 of the levels of last week. We continue to encourage students to test regularly, including over the holidays, and we have issued all students with enough kits to do this.

I would ask all students to test at home on the evening of Sunday 27th February and for all students displaying symptoms, or testing positive, to remain at home and not come into school at the start of next half-term.

Thank you to all students, parents and carers for your support over this half-term, as it has without doubt helped us to keep the vast majority of students in school for the last 6 weeks.

More guidance will begin to be issued soon around what is being called the 'living with Covid' strategy, as we move into the next phase of the pandemic. I will keep all students, parents and carers updated throughout next half-term, as information becomes available.

Rolls Royce Young Apprenticeship Scheme

Parents/Carers of students in Year 9 should be aware that there will be an Open Evening on 6th April for any students and parents/carers interested in the Rolls Royce Young Apprentice scheme. The scheme involves students being out of school one day a week at Rolls Royce and Derby College in Years 10 and 11.

Mrs Bunting has sent an email to all Year 9 students today with details of the Open Evening. Students MUST attend the Open evening if they are interested in the scheme and there is a link to the booking form in Mrs Bunting’s email.

Storm Eunice

An Amber weather warning has been issued for the Midlands tomorrow, as Storm Eunice is expected to bring high winds to the region. Our site staff will be in school early tomorrow morning to check for any damage caused overnight and to assess potential risks for the school day, but we are expecting to be open as normal to all students. If there is significant damage to the school site, or power outage, for example, the situation may have to be reviewed; similarly if staff cannot make it into school due to traffic disruption. If this happens, or if the situation changes during the day tomorrow, we will communicate with all students, parents and carers via email and social media.

Please talk to your child(ren) about taking extra care travelling to school tomorrow and please be careful yourselves, if you are bringing students to school by car.

Thank you all for your continued support.

I hope all students enjoy their well deserved holiday next week.

Keep safe.

J Wilding
Headteacher

We are very pleased to report that the Littleover candidate, Omar Aslam, was elected Derby Youth Mayor for 2022-23.

The results of the Derby Youth Mayor election were announced at the Derby Voices in Action Meeting on Monday evening. There were 11000 votes cast across all the secondary schools in the city.

Omar is the third Youth Mayor to come from LCS, and wish him all the best for his year in office.

Dr. Robyn Dewis has asked us to share the following information with all parents/carers.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Despite reports that COVID infections are falling, we are still seeing a high number of COVID cases in the City, over 2000 each week. Cases in children are at their highest since the start of the pandemic. Many schools and early years providers are working extremely hard to keep settings open while ensuring children and staff are safe. Despite this, we have a number of settings that have needed to take additional actions to respond to outbreaks.

I am writing to ask for your help and support to reduce Covid-19 spread and keep schools and settings open. I hope that, by working together, we can keep children in face to face education for the coming months.

We continue to advise schools and childcare providers to:

• Increase ventilation inside and to be outside as much as possible.
• Ensure a continued focus on thorough and frequent cleaning, along with increased handwashing and sanitising.
• Ask parents to continue to wear face coverings at drop-off and pick-up or if they visit inside.
• Ask staff to continue to wear face coverings where possible and appropriate, including in communal areas in some schools with outbreaks.
• Encourage staff and secondary school children to use the home testing/ lateral flow kits twice a week and report results. These tests are to use regularly when you do not have any symptoms. Our advice is that these tests can also be used by Primary aged children if parents are happy to do this.
• Identify any contacts of positive cases and provide advice that is based on the setting’s rates of infection.
• Remind everyone that those with symptoms need to stay at home and take a PCR test.
• Children should not return to the setting before the result comes back and staff may ask to see the result.
• Remind everyone who is positive for COVID that they need to isolate at home.
• In some outbreak situations head teachers may ask household contacts to stay at home until they have had a negative PCR result.

I am asking parents to:

• Continue to use the home testing/ lateral flow kits twice a week and report the results.
• Parents can use them with younger children if they feel able to.
• Wear a face covering if you need to gather with others when you drop-off or collect your child, unless exempt. Some settings continue to require this.
• If your child has COVID symptoms (a new cough, a temperature or loss of taste/smell) please keep them at home and arrange a PCR test. If your school currently has an outbreak then other symptoms such as sore throat or cold symptoms may also indicate COVID infection.
• If your child is identified as a contact, please follow the advice provided by your school or childcare provider. This might include a bookable PCR test, daily LFTs for children over 5 or younger if parents agree. In some circumstances your child may be asked to move to home learning.
• If there is a current outbreak in your child’s school, or your child is identified as a contact, please consider the activities they undertake out of the school setting. Please consider reducing their contact with vulnerable people, including those who are older or in poor health, for the period of the outbreak.

Thank you for your support in keeping your setting open and everyone safe.

Yours sincerely

Dr Robyn Dewis
Director of Public Health
PCR test- taken at a test site or as a postal kit and sent off to the lab
LFT- the one you do at home and get your results immediately

Mr Wilding has sent a general update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers, 

Good afternoon, from LCS.

My update today includes several items I hope are of interest to you.

A reminder that school is closed to students tomorrow (Wednesday) for staff INSET and that students should return to normal lessons on Thursday.

Covid-19

The number of students testing positive for Covid-19 has increased over the last 2 weeks, although fewer cases have been reported this week so far.

We may find that a certain number of Covid-19 cases amongst students becomes the norm in the weeks and months to come, but there remains the constant possibility of additional measures being needed if case numbers ‘spike’, or if there is a local outbreak of Covid-19 in the community.

Students continuing regular testing will be key to our efforts to manage Covid-19 in school and I would continue to ask parents and carers to make sure students test on a Sunday and Wednesday evening and additionally if identified as a potential close contact. The more asymptomatic cases are identified through testing, the fewer cases we will have in school and the less necessary it will be to reinstate face masks or Remote Learning in the future.

With the increased number of cases recently, we have changed our contact tracing to include whole classes, rather than using seating plans. We will continue to send text messages to parents/carers where numbers of cases in a class become a concern.

Today’s DfE Bulletin to schools has announced, to help support international travel, including school trips, that the NHS COVID Pass service for 12 to 15 year olds now includes the option of a digital NHS COVID Pass.

The NHS COVID Pass for international travel can be accessed through the NHS website for those aged 12 years and over. For young people aged 13 and over, the NHS App can also be used to access the NHS COVID pass.

More information on this can be found at the link, below:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/get-digital-covid-pass/

We will be issuing students with a new supply of LFD tests on Thursday, with each consenting student being provided with 2 boxes of tests (14 tests in total – 7 in each box). Students should bring these tests home carefully on Thursday evening, to be used over the next few weeks.

Derby Youth Mayor

We are delighted to announce that Derby’s Youth Mayor for 2022/23 will be our very own Year 11 student, Omar Aslam. Deputy Youth Mayor will be Gloria Osei Bonsu from Derby Moor Academy, who we also send congratulations to.

There were 10,976 votes cast by 19 secondary schools and colleges in the recent city-wide elections, representing a 61% turnout.

Omar is the third LCS student elected to this post, following in the footsteps of current Youth Mayor Connie Spencer and Tiny Simbani, who held the post several years ago.

We are very proud of Omar and we are sure he will be a fantastic Youth Mayor, representing the views and interests of our young people.

Clubs

An updated list of clubs and activities available to students has been published on our website.

This can be found at the link, below:

https://www.littleover.derby.sch.uk/content/activities/files/ecas_spring2022.pdf

Police and Crime Commissioner Survey

Throughout the year, the Commissioner runs a survey asking for Derbyshire residents views on crime and community safety. This is done to ensure that the priorities the Commissioner sets for policing, community safety and victims services reflect the issues that matter most to you, wherever you live in the City or the County.

Using the responses from the survey, the Commissioner will work with the Chief Constable to ensure that resources are balanced efficiently with your concerns.

The Commissioner needs to hear from as many people as possible, from all age groups and backgrounds, to ensure the results are fair.

We have been asked to share the survey (link below) to parents/carers and students aged 14 and above.

If you could spare a few minutes to complete the survey, I am sure your views will be gratefully received.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=LQIKrg1jlkO4-1jbMGG5GzFqY4suWRhNsue5d2i08TlUMkRPTUFNWEVXSDUyVFk0VDZERkcxREYwVSQlQCN0PWcu

Thank you all for your continued support to us all in school.

Keep safe.

J Wilding
Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent a COVID-19 update to parents and carers.

To all parents and carers, 

Good afternoon, from LCS.

We have been in communication this morning with our Local CCT, regarding the number of student Covid-19 cases we have seen in school over the past few days.

We are beginning to see concerning trends of increase in cases in several Year Groups and CCT have asked us to alert parents and carers to this issue.

Significant numbers of students receiving recent positive Covid-19 test results are displaying a sore throat as an early symptom. CCT have asked us to alert all parents and carers to this and to advise that students take a Covid-19 test, as soon as they develop a sore throat.

We would continue to encourage regular testing for Covid-19, at least twice each week, but would advise more regular testing at this present time.

We will be sending text messages to the parents and carers of groups with the current highest number of cases. but would urge extra vigilance for all students, parents and carers at this time.

We will further review case numbers on Monday with our local CCT and I will inform you if there are further developments.

Thank you for your continued support.

Keep safe 

J Wilding
Headteacher

LCS has vacancies for the position of: Teacher of Maths.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Daytime Cleaner.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

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

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents regarding COVID-19, Year 10 Parents Evening, the upcoming INSET day and vaping.

To all parents and carers, 

Good morning, from LCS. 

Thank you for your support over the changes to our face mask rules since Monday. We will continue to monitor Covid-19 cases in school on a daily basis and I will keep parents and carers updated of any issues or developments. Covid-19 remains an ongoing issue and, as we found last week with the two groups in Year 7, ‘spikes’ in cases can occur at any time. 
We continue to ask students to test for Covid-19 twice a week, on a Sunday and Wednesday evening. Test results should be reported to school and to the NHS. The link to the NHS reporting portal is below: 

• https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result 

Please do not send your child(ren) into school if they test positive through an LFD, or PCR test. 

Students were issued with several boxes of LFD tests at the start of term and we will be issuing a new supply of test kits to all students in the near future.

Year 10 Parents’ Evening 

A reminder to all Year 10 parents and carers that Parents’ Evening this Thursday 3rd February will be held remotely, via SchoolCloud. 

Appointments can still be made on the SchoolCloud system, up to midnight this evening. 

INSET Day 

Wednesday 9th February is an INSET Day and school will be closed to students. Key dates, including further INSET Days and holidays, can always be found under School > Important Dates > Calendar

Vape 

We have seen another increase in cases of students being found in possession of vape, or vape equipment, in school since the start of this term. The items being confiscated from students should not be sold to anyone under the age of 18 and we are working with our local Police Safer Neighbourhood Team to identify potential sources of supply of these items. 

Our Behaviour Policy is clear in that students found to be in possession of vape, or using vape whilst wearing school uniform in the community, will be subject to Suspension. Students found in possession of large amounts of vape or vape equipment believed to be with intent to supply to others will receive a long Suspension from school and could be subject to Permanent Exclusion. 

I would be grateful if all parents and carers could be aware of this issue and contact Police if you are aware of individuals or shops selling these items to children.

Thank you all for your continued support. 

Keep safe 

J Wilding
Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents regarding COVID-19 issues.

To all parents and carers, 

Good morning from LCS.

My update today is understandably dominated by Covid-19 issues. The current situation with Covid-19 cases in school continues to be a massive challenge for us and I very much appreciate the positive feedback we continue to receive from parents, carers and the wider school community. It is extremely important for all our staff that their outstanding work continues to be recognised. 

Covid-19 cases in school 

Unfortunately, I have had to make the decision to move two Year 7 Tutor Groups to Remote Learning for today and Monday 31st January.

These two classes have seen a swift increase in Covid-19 cases amongst students this week and currently account for around 1/3 of all our positive cases in school. After discussion with our local CCT, the decision to move to Remote Learning for these two groups was made to, hopefully, allow for a break of 4 days (weekend included) to slow the spread of the virus. 

We continue to monitor case numbers daily and I am in regular communication with CCT and our local Public Health agencies for advice on appropriate action at this time. 

Face masks 

You will be aware that face masks in classrooms are no longer recommended by the DfE and that the requirement for students to wear face masks in communal areas has also been removed nationally. 

Cases of Covid-19 in Derby continue to be high, particularly with younger children, and we are monitoring our situation in school on a daily basis. 

I understand the fierce debate in some areas around face masks and it has been the single largest topic of communications I have received from parents and carers over the last year. I have received messages both supporting and criticising our approach to face masks in school, pretty much in equal measure. 

With this in mind, any students wishing to continue to wear a face mask in school, either in the classroom or communal areas, will be permitted to do so until further notice. We will no longer enforce face masks in school from Monday, but students will be allowed to wear a face mask if they wish to. We will review this policy at the end of half-term, so in a further 3 weeks’ time. 

School will continue to provide face masks for students requiring them at this time, but I would ask students wishing to wear a face mask in school to provide their own, where possible. 

Face masks could be reintroduced in the future as part of our Outbreak Management Plan, if case numbers warranted this and if agreed with CCT and Public Health. 

Thank you.
Keep safe 

J Wilding
Headteacher

Due to increased COVID-19 cases in the tutor groups, students in 7LSS and 7TJB will be placed on remote learning on Friday 28th and Monday 31st January.

Good afternoon, from LCS.

Emails have been sent this morning to parents/carers of students in two Year 7 classes. These classes have seen an increase in Covid-19 cases over the last few days and currently account for a large majority of cases in Year 7 as a whole.

After consultation with our Local Authority CCT, we have made the decision to place students in these two classes on remote learning for tomorrow and Monday 31st January.

This decision currently applies to students in these 2 classes only, so if you have not received an email, text message and/or letter today, please continue to send your child(ren) to school as normal.

The classes concerned are 7LSS and 7TJB.

In asking students to work from home tomorrow and Monday, and with the weekend in between, we are allowing a break of 4 days to, hopefully, slow down the apparent spread of the Covid-19 virus within these classes and potentially to further students and groups in school.

We would continue to encourage students to test regularly at home for Covid-19 at this time, particularly students in Year 7 where we have more cases currently than the remainder of the school combined.

Thank you for your continued support.

Keep safe 

J Wilding
Headteacher

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Senior Admin Officer/Headteacher's PA.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents.

To all parents and carers, 

Good morning, from LCS. 

I have included in my update today, several short items, with some associated links. 

Teenage Booster (Tetanus, Diphtheria and Polio) and Meningococcal ACWY (Men ACWY) vaccinations - for parents/carers of Y9, 10 and 11 students 

Parents/carers of students in Year 9, 10 and 11 will have received an email in the last 48 hours, informing them of this vaccination programme. If you are a parent/carer of a student in Years 9-11, please read the relevant email and follow instructions in the attached letter, if you wish to give consent for your child to be vaccinated in school on 3rd February. 

Mrs Bunting

After many years of loyal service to the school, Mrs Bunting will be retiring from her position as Senior Deputy Headteacher at the end of this academic year. The process to appoint a new Deputy Headteacher to the school has already started and the closing date for applications is Monday 7th February. 

A lot more will be said about Mrs Bunting over the coming months and we will be saying our formal goodbyes to her at the end of the Summer Term. 

Students signing out during the school day 

I have been asked by our Student Services Office to remind parents/carers of the process for students signing in/out of school for appointments, during the school day. 

A Student Appointment Consent Form should be completed and given to staff in our Student Services Office before students leave school for an appointment. This form can be found via the link below: 

• Student Appointment Consent Form 

Students should then sign-out at the appropriate time and be collected by the parent/carer from school Reception.

Please do not arrange to meet students outside of the school gates, or in the school car park, without them signing out using the correct procedure. 

Summer 2022 Exam dates 

Dates for A Level and GCSE Exams are posted on our website; links are below: 

• GCSE Exams - Summer 2022 
• A-Level Exams - Summer 2022 

The final A Level exam is on 24th June, with the final GCSE exam being the day before, on 23rd June. 

Results days are as follows: 

• A Level – 18th August 
• GCSE – 25th August 

Safeguarding information 

A reminder to all parents/carers that a large amount of safeguarding information can be found on our school website. The link to this information is below: 

• Safeguarding at LCS 

An additional page of wellbeing information can also be found on our website at: 

• Wellbeing at LCS 

Please take time to look at this information, if you have not done so for some time. 

As stated in my message from last Friday, I will issue a further update regarding face masks in school at the end of this week. 

Thank you.
Keep safe 

J Wilding
Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers following changes by the government to COVID-19 guidance.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon from LCS.

After the announcement of changes to face mask rules made in the House of Commons on Wednesday, we have taken time to examine the full detail of the revised national guidance, as well as guidance from local Public Health.

We will be changing our rules for students wearing face masks in school as follows: 

Face masks will no longer be worn by students in lessons from Monday. National guidance was for this to change yesterday, but the short notice of the announcement didn't leave us enough time to review the details in full and make an informed decision. 

Students will continue to be asked to wear face masks in indoor communal areas, including corridors, food queues and Dining areas, until Friday 28th January; national guidance changes on 27th January, but we would like to take a full week to assess the impact of this change on case numbers in school. 

A decision will then be made on 28th January, whether to remove face masks for students throughout school, whether to continue to allow students to wear a face mask in communal areas if they wish to, or to continue with face masks in communal areas for all students. 

Rates of Covid-19 infection remain high in the community and in Derby as a whole and I have had further conversations with our local CCT this morning on the best action for us to take as a school, over the next few weeks. 

Students with known medical conditions who request to wear face masks in lessons will be given a card to show staff, as we have done in the past, and may continue to wear a face mask in lessons from Monday. 

Whatever decision we make from 28th January, face masks could return for all students throughout the school building as a targeted measure within our Outbreak Management Plans, at a later date. If this happens, it will be in response to rising case numbers and in consultation with local Public Health. 

I have included a link, below, to the latest guidance on Covid-19 for parents and carers: 

GOV.uk COVID Guidance for Parents and Carers 

We will continue to hold whole-year Assemblies remotely until the end of this term, to allow time to monitor and assess Covid-19 case numbers. We are hopeful that whole-year Assemblies can return in the Main Hall after February half-term, as well as other larger group activities and events. 

Staff in our Student Services Office will continue to send text messages to parents/carers of potential close contacts of positive cases identified from classroom seating plans, as we feel this has been helpful in keeping our case numbers in school down in recent weeks. 

I would like to thank all parents, carers, students and staff for their continued support.

Thank you.
Keep safe 

J Wilding
Headteacher

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Deputy Headteacher.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

The Year 9 Options Evening scheduled for 6.30pm has been cancelled. All information and presentations can be viewed online.

Good afternoon, from LCS.

A reminder that the Year 9 Options Information Evening originally scheduled to take place in school from 6-30pm this evening has been cancelled and the relevant information moved to our school website.

This decision was made and communicated to parents and carers several weeks ago and is a result of ongoing Covid-19 safety guidance.

I apologise for any inconvenience the cancellation of this event has caused.

All relevant information related to the Year 9 Options Process is available under Parents > Year 9 Options.

Thank You

J. Wilding
Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding face coverings.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon from LCS.

There has been an announcement in Parliament this afternoon that face coverings will no longer be required for students in secondary school classrooms, from tomorrow.

Given the short notice of this announcement and lack of prior warning, it would be sensible for us to wait for the full DfE announcement and guidance before changing our current rules. Full DfE guidance is unlikely to be issued to schools before the end of the working day and will need to be reviewed in detail and our own situation evaluated, before our rules in school are changed.

We will, therefore, continue with our current rules on face masks until the end of this week and I will issue a further update to all students, parents and carers on Friday.

Thank you. 

Keep safe. 

J Wilding
Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding Covid-19 vaccinations and changes to Covid isolation guidance.

To all parents and carers.

Good evening, from LCS. 

Since my last update, national guidance on self-isolation for people testing positive for Covid-19 has changed. It is now possible to end self-isolation after 5 full days, if you have 2 negative LFD tests taken on consecutive days. 

Full, updated guidance can be found at the link below: 

• GOV.uk - Stay at home guidance for households with possible COVID-19 infection 

My previous email update informed all parents and carers of the next round of Covid-19 vaccinations, being hosted at LCS this Friday, 21st January. 

All information relevant to the Covid-19 vaccination programme can be found in the text and links in the letter below, including the Consent Form for those parents/carers wishing their child(ren) to have the Covid-19 vaccination: 

• COVID-19 Vaccination Letter and Consent Form 

Please be aware, as stated in the attached letter, that the new Consent Form has to be completed for students to be eligible for the vaccination in school on 21st January, as any previous consent given is no longer valid.

The vaccinations in school on 21st January are for students aged 12-15 and not for students in our Sixth Form. The Vaccination Team have confirmed that students in Year 11 who are already 16 will, however, be able to receive the vaccine if consent has been provided. 

Please be aware, as previously stated, that the school has been asked to offer a site for these vaccinations, but has no part in the vaccination programme itself. As such, all questions about the Covid-19 vaccine should be addressed to the NHS, through the contact details contained in the letter. 

Thank you. 

Keep safe. 

J Wilding
Headteacher

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Attendance Manager (Maternity Cover).

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

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

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Mr Wilding has sent a information to parents regarding COVID-19 immunisations in school.

To all parents and carers.

Good morning, from LCS.

Please see the Letter from the DCHST Immunisation Team outlining how parents and carers can consent for their child(ren) to receive the Covid-19 vaccination at LCS on Friday 21st January.

Please read the information in the letter carefully and complete the e-consent form, if you wish to, at the link included in the letter. Any students receiving this round of vaccinations must have had consent from the parent/carer through this new consent form, as no consent obtained from previous forms will be considered.

Please remember that school are providing a site for the vaccinations and are not otherwise involved in, or responsible for, the delivery of the vaccination programme. Please direct any questions about the vaccination programme to the Immunisation Team, using the contact details provided in the letter, and not to the school.

Please also be aware that students will not be collected for their vaccination individually by school staff, so must be aware on the day whether consent has been provided by their parent/carer for the vaccination. Please have this discussion with your child(ren) to ensure they are aware whether or not you have consented.

Thank you.

J Wilding
Headteacher

A copy of the letter can be found under Parents > Communications > Letters Home

Mr Wilding has sent a reminder to parents and carers regarding the start of term.

To all parents and carers.

Good evening, from LCS.

Welcome to the Spring Term. It has been good to see students back in school today, either for on-site Covid-19 testing or for exams. We will continue to follow the published remote learning timetable tomorrow and students will begin to return to face-to-face lessons from Wednesday, with all students back in school on Thursday.

Current Covid-19 guidance

I have summarised the Covid-19 guidance we are currently following in brief bullet points, below:

• As students return to face-to-face lessons this week, face masks will continue to be worn throughout the building, including classrooms, as was the case last half-term. As we were already doing this at LCS, the change to national guidance on face coverings doesn't impact on us significantly.
• Staff and students should continue to test twice each week, on a Sunday and Wednesday evening, using the LFD testing kits. Additional test kits are being given to students when they attend for on-site tests this week.
• The need for a confirmatory PCR test for asymptomatic cases has been dropped, so anyone testing positive through an LFD test should automatically self-isolate for a minimum of 7 days, with the day the positive test result was received being 'Day Zero'.Our local CCT have confirmed that someone testing on the morning of Day 6 and Day 7 could return to school on Day 7, if they have received 2 consecutive negative results, 24 hours apart from each other. Anyone returning on this basis should still continue to test daily until the end of the 10 days. Our understanding is that the above also applies to symptomatic cases who have tested positive via PCR, but I have asked CCT for this to be confirmed.
• Anyone with symptoms of Covid-19 should continue to book a PCR test and isolate until results are received. I have asked CCT to clarify whether the isolation period 're-sets' if someone develops symptoms and tests positive on a PCR, after initially self-isolating from an asymptomatic positive LFD result.
• Close contacts of Covid-19 cases do not need to self-isolate, but should take LFD tests every day for 7 days and isolate immediately if they develop symptoms or test positive through an LFD test.
• The '90 Day rule' doesn't really apply any more, but there is no need for a student to test again this week if they have had Covid-19 since mid December. For students who contracted Covid-19 prior to this time, however, it is worth them testing again, even if it is less than 90 days since they developed symptoms.

The above has been agreed with our local CCT and we will continue to take their lead and follow their guidance on issues related to Covid-19 in school.

Covid-19 vaccinations

We have been informed that, following national guidance, the School Age Immunisation Team will be offering the second dose of Covid-19 vaccination to young people aged 12 – 15 at LCS on Friday 21st January. They are also able to offer the first dose in school, if your child hasn’t yet received a vaccination.

Consent for this round of vaccinations is through a new Consent Form, a link to which will be emailed to all parents/carers via ParentPay tomorrow. The Immunisation Team will only use this new Consent Form, so any parent/carer wishing for their child to receive this Covid-19 vaccination in school must complete the new form. Details of any consent obtained through previous Consent Forms will not be used. Please check your emails tomorrow, when this information and link to the Consent Form will be forwarded to you.

On-site Covid-testing

We have completed all scheduled testing of students in Year 10 and 11 today. Please be aware that your child's result may not be sent to you until tomorrow, but that parents/carers of any positive cases have been informed. If you do not receive your child's test result today, but have not been contacted individually by school, please do not worry as the result will be negative.

Thank you, as always, for your on going support and I look forward to seeing all students back in school to resume lessons over the next few days.

Best wishes.

Keep safe.

J Wilding
Headteacher

Due to the Coronavirus situation, this year's LCS Year 9 Options information and presentations can be viewed online.

You can find the information under Parents > Year 9 Options.

Mr Wilding has sent a reminder to parents and carers regarding the start of term arrangements.

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon, from LCS.

I hope you have all had a peaceful new year and that this message finds you and your family in good health.

This is a very brief message to remind everyone of the arrangements for the start of term, on Monday 10th January. As previously stated, we are operating a phased return to school for students next week, following the plans issued before the holidays. Please familiarise yourselves with this information, which can be found on our website, at the following link:

https://www.littleover.derby.sch.uk/covid_jan2022.php

Students should know the time and date of their on-site LFT test and arrive at the Testing Centre through the Fresco Drive entrance gate. Students do not need to wear school uniform when arriving for LFT tests and will return home as soon as their test is completed. Results will be communicated to parents/carers via email and text message, as in previous cases. Students must wear a face covering whilst in the Testing Centre, unless exempt.

Parents/carers wishing to consent to this latest round of testing can do so at the link below. Previous consent still applies, so parents/carers do not need to complete the form if they have already done so.

https://tinyurl.com/LCS-C19ConsentFormStudent

We continue to advise all students to test twice a week using the home testing kits previously issued and new kits will be provided to all students when they take their on-site LFT tests next week. Any students with symptoms of Covid-19 should not arrive in school for on-site testing and should book a PCR test, if they have not previously done so. If students have tested positive for Covid-19 during the holiday and are within their period of self-isolation at the start of term, we would ask parents/carers to call school on Monday 10th January to inform our Student Services office.

You will be aware that government guidance has changed nationally on testing and self-isolation since the end of last term. I will issue a further update as soon as we return to school on Monday, with any relevant issues related to this new guidance.

One of the main changes to national guidance is the recommending of face coverings to be worn by students in classrooms, as well as communal areas. As this was already in place at LCS at the end of last term, there is no change to our policy and students will be asked to wear face coverings throughout the building, including classrooms, at the start of term and until further notice.

Unless there are significant further changes to national or local guidance, my next update will be on Monday 10th January.

Best wishes.

Keep safe.

J Wilding
Headteacher