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

To all parents and carers.

Greetings, from LCS. Welcome to another working week.

A very brief update from me today, to clarify a couple of issues around Covid-19 testing in school and to make you all aware of the Ofqual Consultation on the awarding of GCSE and A level grades for summer 2021.

On Friday, you should have received an email containing information about the Covid-19 testing programme, as well as a copy of our Privacy Notice and a Consent Form. The Consent Form is a standard form which can be found on the government information portal. There is no option on the form for anyone not giving their consent, so anyone not consenting to the testing programme simply doesn't return it.

We became aware towards the middle of last week that there was considerable debate around the use of the Lateral Flow tests for close contacts. The DfE plan is for schools to test close contacts once a day for 7 days, to avoid the need for individuals to self-isolate. There is controversy around this aspect of testing, however, and some Local Authorities as well as teaching Unions are advising against schools using on-site testing for this purpose; the number of false-negatives the test could create has raised concern over it being used for testing of close contacts.

At LCS, we will be offering tests to staff once a week and to students currently attending once every 3-5 days, but we will not be offering daily tests to close contacts. As we were aware of this issue, there is no mention of close contact testing in the letter from Friday and we have removed reference to it from the Consent Form. In the event of positive Covid-19 cases, close contacts will be asked to self-isolate, as was the case last term.

You will be aware that Ofqual have launched a consultation around the awarding of GCSE and A level grades this summer. They want to hear from schools, students and parents/carers, before final decisions are made on this. If you would like to read, or contribute to, the consultation, Please use the link, below:

OFQUAL A-Level and GCSE Consultation

I will be in touch again in a few days with further updates. Please also continue to check our social media sites.

Have a good week.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

The LCS Safeguarding and Wellbeing department would like to make people aware of a new government scheme for those experiencing domestic abuse.

As part of the scheme, anyone can go into a pharmacy and ask for ‘Ani’ and will then be supported by trained staff.

Ask for ANI scheme - Information

Don't forget, the LCS website has links to many other support organisations on our Safeguarding and Wellbeing pages.

To all parents and carers.

Greetings, from LCS.

There are a few issues I would like to update you on today.

Firstly, the testing of students and staff for Covid-19 in school.

At some point on Friday we are hoping to email relevant information on this process, including the Consent Forms, to all parents and carers. If we receive consent to test your child(ren) in school this will, hopefully, begin from next Wednesday 20th January for staff and students currently in school. Please look out for this information in your emails on Friday.

On the subject of students currently in school, the numbers of vulnerable children and children of Critical Workers attending school has grown in recent days. We want to be able to accommodate all students who meet the Critical Worker criteria, but increasing numbers are becoming a challenge to manage with reduced staffing on site each day and with increased numbers of students on site also comes an increased risk of Covid-19 transmission. Some schools have prioritised Year Groups or occupations when deciding which students can attend, or have set maximum numbers they can allow on site each day. We do not want to do either of these things and want to offer a place to all students who meet the criteria where parents/carers have no choice but to send their children to school.

I would respectfully ask that parents and carers think about whether their child does need to be in school and reconsider sending them in if not entirely necessary. The government guidance is that 'You should keep your child at home if you can' and I would ask for your support with the current ongoing situation.

Please email Mrs Bunting via our admin email address for any correspondence related to students currently attending school.

An issue we dealt with regularly during the last lockdown of Spring/Summer 2020 was related to students' use of social media. We were informed regularly by parents and carers of social media issues during the last lockdown and when students returned to school in September many hours were spent by school staff resolving conflicts between students caused by social media posts; there were also several significant safeguarding concerns related to social media use, which came to our attention at the start of the Autumn Term. I would ask all parents and carers to continue to monitor closely their child's use of social media, as we are already receiving reports of similar issues this time around. Social Media has been a great source of communication during the Covid-19 outbreak and has helped families and friends keep in touch with each other, which was the original intention for its use. Students continue to misuse social media, however, to send inappropriate posts, including text and imagery, which can be the cause of bullying, as well as leading to problems in the mental and physical health of young people spending too much time on social media sites. I would also respectfully remind all parents and carers that the minimum age to access most social media sites is 13, as we are seeing increasing numbers of students below this age involved in issues reported to us. Schools cannot effectively address this issue on their own and whether or not students have social media accounts is, ultimately, at the discretion of the parent or carer.

The link below is to the relevant section on our website, where you will useful information about eSafety and social media use:

https://www.littleover.derby.sch.uk/information.php#esafety

I have attached below a link to the latest DfE guidance for information on school operations for parents and carers:

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

Finally, an early warning that school will be closed to all students on Wednesday 3rd February for staff INSET. At present we are planning for staff to complete training remotely on the day and we will not have sufficient staff in school to supervise students. If this changes I will let you know, but I felt it best to give parents and carers enough notice to make the necessary arrangements.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

To all parents and carers.

Good evening from LCS.

We are at the end of what has been a very challenging week for all of us, but now we know we will be working remotely with our students for the rest of this half-term, it allows us all to plan ahead on this basis and with some much needed clarity.

Following the current national lockdown guidance, we have reduced the numbers of school staff on site throughout the last week. The majority of teaching staff are now working from home for at least part of the week and our admin and support staff teams are working in school to a rota. We are determined, however, that our remote learning offer will not be negatively impacted by teachers working from home and we have provided the resources for all staff to set work and maintain communications with students effectively.

Our most vulnerable students and children of Critical Workers will continue to attend school for the remainder of this half-term. We are, however, from Monday, asking all students in school to wear a face covering in the classroom as well as in corridors and around the school building. This is in response to concerns around current rates of transmission of Covid-19. At this present time, no decision has been made on face coverings in classrooms when students return to school in larger numbers and we will be guided on this by the government guidance at the time.

You will be aware that a statement was made earlier this week by the Secretary of State regarding cancellation of A Level and GCSE exams this summer. Mr Archer and Mr McElhone have been in communication with students in Year 13 and Year 11 over the last couple of days to outline the position, as we currently know it to be. We have been informed from the Secretary of State that replacement for exams will be 'a form of teacher assessment grade' which will 'put trust in teachers rather than algorithms'. There will now be a period of consultation by Ofqual, beginning on Monday and lasting for the next two weeks. As soon as we know the outcome of this consultation, we will communicate to parents, carers and students.

Finally, our Covid-19 testing facility is almost ready to begin testing of staff and students currently in school. Our site team have done an amazing job to create our testing facility, which we have set up in our Dance Studio. We are planning for the facility to be operational by the middle of next week and I have been in touch with members of school staff and volunteers from our parents and carers to put together a team to facilitate our testing programme. I would once again like to thank everyone who has offered their support to us, as it has been overwhelming.

Before testing can begin, consent letters and details of the testing process will need to be sent to all staff, parents, carers and students. We are waiting for the final version of these documents to be made available and will, hopefully, begin to send this out within the next week. 

I have attached two links, below, for those of you interested in them. The first is a link to the Secretary of State's statement to the House of Commons on national lockdown and schools. The second is the return of Joe Wicks!

• Education Secretary statement to Parliament on national lockdown - GOV.UK
• http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAxW1XT0iEJo0TYlRfn6rYQ

Enjoy your weekend and I will be in touch again early next week.
Keep safe.

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

Due to the Coronavirus situation, this year's LCS Year 9 Options Evening is a virtual event. The event comprises of several presentations and can be viewed online.

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

To all parents and carers.

Good evening from LCS.

As I suspected as I was writing my last message to you all yesterday, The Prime Minister has now announced a full national lockdown which has again changed the context of our work in school.

We will now be open to vulnerable children and children of Critical Workers only until February half-term at the earliest, with all remaining students moving to Remote Learning. 

Our Remote Learning timetables for this week will remain as published and updated timetables will be issued on Friday, for the next 3 school weeks.

Where lessons are not 'live' through Microsoft Teams, students should email their teachers during the lesson time with any questions or feedback on the work being set.

We have been working hard since the start of the first lockdown in March 2020 to identify students struggling to access work on-line from home and we have provided over 60 lap-tops to students, to date. If your child is unable to access work set remotely, please contact school via email or call the usual school contact numbers, addressing your question/request to Mr A McElhone.

As well as plans for lessons, Heads of Year will also be running weekly Assemblies and activities with their groups via Microsoft Teams and Form Tutors have been asked to make contact with students at least once every 2 weeks to check on their progress.

Parents/Carers of students eligible for Free School Meals will continue to be sent vouchers, as previously, for the duration of this partial school closure. We will continue to serve food in school for those students attending, but with a reduced menu and availability due to the smaller numbers.

Our Wellbeing team will be available throughout each school day to offer support to students; details of how to contact our Wellbeing team, as well as further safeguarding information, are available at Safeguarding and Wellbeing Links.

We will continue to use our social media pages, particularly Instagram and Facebook, as well as our website to update students, parents and carers on events in school. I am hoping to record some more brief videos for students from next week, as I did during the summer; I had hoped my acting days were over, but never mind!

Further to my email of yesterday evening, the proposed Covid-19 testing of students and staff in school has not been shelved as a result of the latest lockdown and the expectation on schools is for this to continue. Staff and students in school will start to be tested soon, followed by the rest of the school when students return in February. As stated previously, full consent will be needed before any tests are completed and details will be sent to students, parents and carers in due course.

Thank you to the numerous parents and carers who have offered support for our testing programme following my email of yesterday; I will contact each in turn over the next few days.

We will need a team of staff to begin the testing of students and staff prior to February half-term and will then need to expand our resources when students return to school next half-term.

You will have seen and read today about the proposed scrapping of most, if not all, A' level and GCSE exams this summer. We have been told to expect a more detailed announcement from the Secretary of State tomorrow, but it is clear there will be significant changes to the planned programme of exams for students this year. When the picture on this is clearer, I will let you know.

I will send another update in a few days' time when the dust has settled a bit more on current events, but please remember to email me directly if you have any questions or feedback at any time. Please use the school admin email address and mark your message 'FAO Mr Wilding.'

I am very aware of the amount of time many of our students will have had away from school by the end of this latest lockdown and the effect this will have had on their physical and mental health. As a school, we remain committed to doing what we can to help all our students to cope with this latest challenge until we, hopefully, begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel by mid to late Spring.

Enjoy your evening.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

Please be aware that Go4Schools is currently experiencing some technical difficulties.

We have checked with Go4Schools and they are currently investigating the issue.

Other LCS Systems should be unaffected.

Thank you for your patience.

To all parents and carers.

Good evening from LCS.

Thank you all for your support ahead of the start of this term. It was a hectic last few days of the school holiday in preparation for today, but things in school have gone as smoothly as we could have hoped for. I hope all students have been able to access their remote learning and have completed tasks to the best of their ability today.

I am aware of a national broadcast being made by the Prime Minister this evening and that Scotland have already announced a 'lockdown', with schools closed until at least the start of February. On that basis, what I am asking in my email this evening may need to change; I know as much as you do at the moment.

As you will be aware, schools have been asked to support a mass Covid-19 testing programme for students and staff, to identify asymptomatic cases and to limit the time students need to be away from school in self-isolation. We have started to put our testing facility into place and will be resourcing this over the next few days, ahead of receiving further information nationally and locally, from Derby City Council. If the plans for testing in schools proceed as per current guidance, we will need to put together a team of staff to oversee the administration of testing. This team will come from existing school staff as well as, potentially, volunteers from our local community. My email this evening is to ask you as parents and carers whether you would be prepared, and available, to help us. More details are available on request, but the basic plan for testing would be as follows:

School would offer Lateral Flow Tests (LFT) to staff and students. Staff would be tested once per week and students identified as close contacts of positive cases would be offered daily tests for 7 days, as an alternative to self-isolation. Students from the wider school cohort would be offered tests every 3-5 days, depending on resources and available testing capacity.

LFT tests are self-administered and would be in the form of a swab taken from each student or staff member. Staff in the testing team would, therefore, be available to supervise, offer support and complete the administration for the testing process and would not be conducting the tests themselves. On-line training in the form of 6 Modules ( aprox 90 minutes in total) will be offered to all staff involved. PPE will also be provided.

Testing would likely be for around 6 hours per day, from 8am.

It would be of great benefit if all members of the testing team had experience of working with children and/or in the health profession and had an up-to-date DBS certificate, but none of these are compulsory.

At the moment, and pending further government announcements, I am asking for anyone who feels they could offer support to our testing programme to email me with their details. Please email the general school email address and mark your message 'FAO Mr Wilding re. Testing'. Please let me know if you have any experience in similar situations and the time(s) you would be available to help. I will then reply to everyone on an individual basis. If you do think you can help us, I would appreciate a reply by Wednesday 6th January.

With regards to the testing of students and staff itself, informed consent must be gained before this can take place. I will be contacting all students, parents and carers within the next couple of days with more details of the testing process and with consent forms for students (over 16 years of age) and parents/carers to complete.

Thanks again.
Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon and Happy New Year from all at LCS. I am emailing you briefly today, as promised, to confirm arrangements for the first week of Spring Term.

With the amount of time many students have already been out of school due to Covid-19 issues since September, we will be setting work for all Year Groups next week. Our aim is to follow the same pattern of remote learning we used last term and Mrs Bunting will email all students with the programme for their Year Group. Our programme of remote learning will continue until guidelines change and as long as resources allow. If changes need to be made, parents, carers and students will be informed.

Students in Years 7-9 will have work set on Go4Schools. They should follow their normal timetable and teachers will be available during lesson times to answer any questions and/or to provide feedback. Students in Years 10-12 will have a combination of work set on Go4Schools and lessons delivered through Microsoft Teams.

Year 13 students should be preparing for their Mock Exams and teachers will be available for support during normal lesson times.

I would ask for your continued support in making sure your children work to the best of their ability with remote learning tasks. This is not an extended holiday and we expect all students to do their best to compete work set.

A small number of our most vulnerable students will be in school next week, as well as children of Key Workers. Parents/Carers have been asked to complete and return a form to confirm their child(ren)'s place; please do not send your child(ren) into school tomorrow unless you have done this.

For students who are in school next week, they should arrive in school at their usual time and at their usual entrance. When students arrive tomorrow morning, they will be directed to the classroom where they will be working for the week. Students in school will complete the same work set remotely for their Year Group, lesson times will be as normal and arrangements for the end of the school day will be as they were last term.

Food will be available in school throughout the week, although there will be a reduced menu due to the small numbers of students attending. Students eligible for Free School Meals will be provided with food in school as normal and parents/carers of those students eligible for FSM working from home will continue to be provided with on-line vouchers.

Students in school next week must only attend if they are well and not showing any symptoms of Covid-19. They must not attend if self-isolating due to Covid-19 or if they, or any member of their household, are awaiting test results.

A significant amount of our time in school next week will be taken up with planning for Covid-19 testing of students and staff. Details of our plans for this will be communicated as soon as possible.

I anticipate sending several email updates to you in the next week and will try my best, as ever, to maintain open and honest communication at all times. Please continue to monitor your emails, as well as our social media sites for regular updates.

Best wishes.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

To all parents and carers.

Good morning everyone.

You will be aware of the latest guidance for schools from Monday 4th January, which again changes our previously published plans for students returning at the start of next term. School will now only be open next week for vulnerable students and children of Key Workers, with all other students working remotely from home. The current plans are for students in Y11 and Y13 to return to school from 11th January, with other Year Groups returning from 18th January.

Further details of Remote Learning will be emailed to students, parents and carers ahead of next Monday, so please continue to check your emails over the next few days.

You will also no doubt be aware of well publicised government plans for schools to begin testing of students for Covid-19 from the start of next term. We have been informed that testing kits and appropriate PPE will begin to be delivered to school from 4th January, but I am sure you can all understand what a massive challenge the organisation of this will be for a school the size of LCS. On this basis, I would respectfully request you continue not to ask us about our plans for testing and that you await further communication from school next week.

I hope you have had a great holiday so far and I wish you all the best for the new year.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

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

To all parents and carers.

I had hoped by leaving my last email update to the afternoon of the penultimate day of term, there was little chance of any government announcements requiring us to change our plans.  Unfortunately, I was mistaken.

With the DfE announcement from yesterday afternoon, students in Year 11 and Year 13 only will now be returning to school on 4th January, as well as vulnerable children and children of Key Workers. We are contacting parents/carers of vulnerable students today and will be emailing all parents/carers during the holidays to identify children of Key Workers where parents/carers wish them to attend school from 4th January. Current government guidance is for students in all Year Groups to return to school on 11th January.

Students in Years 7-10 and Year 12 will be provided with a program of Remote Learning for the first week of next term. Timetables will be emailed to all students and will also be posted on our website.

Apart from the reference to all students returning on 4th January, the remaining information and guidance contained in my email update from yesterday still stands. Please read the instructions carefully for reporting positive Covid-19 cases up to 24th December and we would still ask all parents/carers to report Covid-19 related absence on 4th January, regardless of Year Group.

You will also be aware of the recently announced plans for testing of students and staff for Covid-19 in schools from the start of next term. We are seeking further clarification on the implications of this for us as a school and will be releasing further details from January 4th.

During the school holiday, I have been asked to remind all students, parents and carers of the current Tier restrictions for Derby. These can be found on the DCC website at https://www.derby.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid19/coronavirus-guidance/

Thank you.

Keep Safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

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

To all parents and carers.

In my message today, I have outlined the procedure for contacting school with information of positive Covid-19 tests after Friday December 18th.

As students in Year 8, 9 and 10 are already working from home and will have had no contacts in school for at least 7 days by Friday 18th December, the following applies to parents/carers of students in Year 7, Year 11 and Sixth Form only.

The DfE guidance is as follows:

•  For the first 6 days after teaching ends, if a pupil or staff member tests positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), having developed symptoms within 48 hours of being in school, the school is asked to assist in identifying close contacts and advising self-isolation, as the individual may have been infectious whilst in school.
• Where a pupil or staff member tests positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), having developed symptoms more than 48 hours since being in school, the school should not be contacted. Parents and carers should follow contact tracing instructions provided by NHS Test and Trace.
• School staff are not asked to remain on-call or conduct any contact tracing more than 6 days after the final day of teaching. Where a schools last teaching day is on Friday 18 December, there should be no pupil contact tracing asks beyond Thursday 24 December.

If your child develops Covid-19 symptoms before the evening of Sunday 20th December and then receives a positive test result, you should call or email school, using our normal contact numbers. A recorded message will be left on our phone and email system, including a telephone number for parents/carers to text the following information:

• Name and Year Group of the child.
• Date and time they were first symptomatic.
• Date and time of positive test result being received.

This dedicated number for reporting Covid-19 cases will be available from Saturday 19th to Thursday 24th December from 9am to 11am. Please only text during these times.

Once the information has been received via text, a member of school staff will call the parent/carer to clarify details and to take names of potential close contacts. School staff will then identify further close contacts by referencing lesson seating plans.

When close contacts are identified, parents/carers will be informed by email. All parents and carers of students in Year 7, 11 and Sixth Form should, therefore, continue to check their emails until Thursday 24th December.
If we have no email address in school for a parent/carer, one phone call will be made in an attempt to make contact. After that, a letter will be sent by post.

The following applies to all students at the start of term on Monday January 4th

As things stand, all students in all Year Groups should return to school on Monday 4th January 2021. ***PLEASE SEE SUBSEQUENT UPDATE REGARDING WHICH YEAR GROUPS SHOULD ATTEND SCHOOL ON MONDAY 4TH JANUARY***

If your child has any symptoms of Covid-19 on Monday 4th January, you must not send them to school. You must also not send them to school if they have been advised to isolate by NHS Track and Trace, or if they or any members of your household have tested positive for Covid-19 or are awaiting a test result.

Please telephone school on the morning of 4th January to report your child's absence and keep them at home until their period of self-isolation has ended.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

On Thursday 17th December, LCS will be transitioning to a new internal phone system.

As part of this process, the school’s phone number 01332 513219 will be transferred to the new system.  The transfer is scheduled to take place between 10am and 1pm.

During this period, it is possible that anyone calling school via 01332 513219 will not have their call connected.  If this occurs, please use the temporary number 01332 978 300 .   This number will act as a contingency until the main school number has transferred.

Thank you for your co-operation.

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

To all parents and carers.

With just a few days left until the end of term, I wanted to send a positive email update today, instead of my usual Covid-19 dominated messages.

Despite all the challenges we have faced this term, I think it is important to remember and celebrate everything we have achieved together as a school and to praise students and staff for their resilience during such challenging times.

Students in all year groups have settled back into a routine of attending school this term. This shouldn't be underestimated as an achievement, given the length of time most students were absent through the first lockdown of spring and early summer this year. For students to have returned as positively as they have and for them to have made such progress is a tribute to their resilience and to the support of yourselves, as parents and carers.

I would like, also, to pay tribute to all LCS staff, who have worked tirelessly to keep the school open and to continue supporting students to progress academically and emotionally. This term we have developed and improved upon our Remote Learning programme, something no school had the capacity for until recent months. We have also successfully introduced a new system for Parents' Evenings which, again, none of us thought we would ever have the need for prior to this year.

We have been lucky as a school to have the support of the majority of our parents, carers and the wider community, but it has been hurtful and frustrating to read some comments in the press both nationally and locally criticising schools and teachers during this time. As someone who has been in teaching since 1993, I can never remember a more challenging time for all of us and as a wise person once said "before you abuse, criticise and accuse, then walk a mile in my shoes" - actually, I think that was Elvis Presley!

As well as our work managing Covid-19 in school this term, I also want to inform you all of two significant achievements for LCS in the past few weeks. Two weeks ago we received confirmation that we have successfully gained Bronze Status in the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools School Mental Health Award. This is something Mrs Craven and our wellbeing team have been aiming to achieve over the past year and is a sign of our ongoing commitment to support students and staff with their wellbeing and mental health.

Secondly, in a recent article published in The Times newspaper, LCS was ranked as the 11th best school in the East Midlands (249 in the country) based on 2019 A Level (A*-B) and GCSE (9-7) results. This is more impressive when schools with selective intakes are removed, as LCS would then be ranked 3rd in East Midlands comprehensive secondary schools.
We will never say we are perfect as a school and we are always looking to improve, but to receive recognition for the work we do is always reassuring and motivating.

As we near the end of term, for students in school our plan remains to finish term on Friday 18th December, with the following finish times:

• Year 7 - 1.45pm
• Year 11 - 1.35pm
• Year 12 and 13 - 12.35pm

There will be a final Assembly presentation for all students before they leave school on Friday and students working from home will have an Assembly with their Head of Year, via Microsoft Teams. Students in these Year Groups will be informed of the exact timings later this week. For students self-isolating in other Year Groups, the presentation will be made available via the school website and social media sites.

I will need to contact you again towards the end of the week, to explain how you can inform us of any students testing positive for Covid-19 at the start of the Christmas holiday, as school staff will need to remain on call to deal with close contacts until Thursday 24th December. I will update all parents and carers before the end of Friday on how to inform us if your child tests positive for Covid-19 before this time.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

4 LCS students have tested positive for COVID-19. Parents/carers of close contacts have been informed, as per Public Health England prodecure.

To all parents and carers.

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

Due to an increased number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the year group, Year 8 will move to online learning from Monday 14th December, returning on 4th January 2021 after the Christmas break.

Mr Wilding has issued a message to all year 8 parents/carers.

To all Year 8 Parents/Carers,

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

Due to an increased number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the year group, Year 10 will move to online learning from Tuesday 8h December, returning on 4th January 2021 after the Christmas break.

Mr Wilding has issued a message to all year 10 parents/carers.

To all Year 10 Parents/Carers,

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

Due to a rise in covid-19 cases, Year 10 LCS students are to remain at home on Tuesday 8th December.

To all parents and carers of Year 10 students

Further to the earlier message posted on our Facebook page, I have an update with regard to the current situation with Covid-19 cases in Year 10. Due to the number of positive Covid-19 cases reported to us in Year 10 today, we are still in the process of identifying close contacts of several students. We will, therefore, not be able to make contact with all parents and carers of those students affected this evening.

As a result of the number of cases in Year 10 today, I am now asking all Year 10 students to remain at home tomorrow. All students will be emailed shortly with details of how to access remote learning; please ask your child to check their email later this evening, for this information.

I will be in further discussions with the Local Authority and Public Health tomorrow morning and if there is a need for Year 10 students to remain at home beyond tomorrow, I will contact all parents and carers again tomorrow, via email. I will be honest with you now and say that this is very much a possibility.

Please ask your child(ren) to stay at home this evening and tomorrow morning, until we have contacted all close contacts of the positive cases we have had reported today; we will endeavour to do this as soon as possible tomorrow morning.

I will issue a further update as soon as I can tomorrow. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

The first 5 LCS Year 10 students who have been busy working on their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh's Award since March have now completed their awards.

Well done to:

• Heather Bradbury
• Alice Hodgkinson
• Oliver Lefranc
• Zainah Mian
• Girish Sayal

LCS DofE Team

LCS is holding a Christmas Jumper Day on Monday 14th December to raise money for Treetops Hospice.

In the past few years, we have raised funds for Treetops in memory of Sharon Granger and Helen Kerr, former members of staff at LCS, in the form of all staff and students (who would like to) wearing their Christmas jumper and similar to non-uniform day donating £1.

This year, due to Covid, we will have to do things differently.

Therefore, we have created a Gofundme page to collect the donations and the amount raised will be sent directly to Treetops.

Students, who would like to join in, can wear their Christmas Jumper along with their usual school skirt/trousers on the 14th December.

We hope you will be able to support Treetops who have received reduced funds like many charities this year.

To donate, please use the following link:

• LCS Christmas Jumper Day on GoFundMe

Thank you from LCS.

Due to an increased number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the year group, Year 9 will move to online learning for 2 weeks from Monday 7th December.

Mr Wilding has issued a message to all year 9 parents/carers.

To all Year 9 Parents/Carers,

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

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

To all parents and carers.

Good evening from LCS.

As Year 9 students, parents and carers are already aware, due to a number of confirmed COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases in the Year Group, Year 9 will move to online learning for the next two weeks from Monday 7 December, returning to school following the Christmas break on Monday 4th January. This is extremely disappointing and frustrating for us as a school and I am well aware of the frustration being felt by those students, parents and carers directly affected.

In making this decision, I have taken advice from Public Health England and Derby City Council. Littleover is experiencing a high rate of coronavirus cases as a community and this has been reflected in the number of cases we have seen in school recently. Cases in Year 9 have been of particular concern and whereas we have a number of positive cases and students being asked to self-isolate as close contacts in other year groups, Year 9 has seen a significant rise in cases in the last 3 to 4 days, with other students displaying symptoms and awaiting test results. We had hoped that asking Year 9 students to work from home previously would have allowed us to bring the number of cases down and be able to continue until the end of term with students in school but, unfortunately, this does not seem to have been the case.

All students in Year 9 have been issued with a letter this afternoon with details of their on-line learning programme, which will start on Monday. This information will also be posted on our website. 

We are asking students to follow their normal school timetable and to complete work set by teachers in a variety of different formats. Teachers will be available during each lesson to offer support and answer questions, via email. We are planning to contact as many students as we can over the next two weeks via telephone and will also be planning some recreational and fun activities, including our regular last day of term Assembly which will be via Microsoft Teams.

I cannot apologise enough for having to take this action, but I feel there is no safe alternative under the circumstances.

Public Health Derby and Derby City Council have asked me to take this opportunity to remind all students, parents and carers of the new Tiered restrictions for Covid-19 management. Derby is currently under Very High (Tier 3) local restrictions, which means no mixing of households indoors or most outdoor places, apart from support bubbles. Full details of the restrictions can be found ongov.uk/coronavirus.
A link to the specific guidance is below:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/local-restriction-tiers-what-you-need-to-know?utm_source=1%20December%202020%20C19&utm_medium=Daily%20Email%20C19&utm_campaign=DfE%20C19

For students in school over the last two weeks of term, it will be a more low-key end of term and approach to Christmas than we are used to. We will continue lessons as normal until the last day of term, but we are planning some festive activities, including Christmas Jumper Day on Monday 14th December; more details to follow next week.

Due to the current restrictions, staff will not be able to hold their traditional Form Time activities with students, such as last day parties and 'Secret Santa', and we strongly advise students do not bring presents, chocolates etc into school to share with friends. I know this will be very difficult for students to do, but the increased risk of Covid-19 transmission these activities create would put them at potentially greater risk of infection.

As a staff we are making changes to our usual Christmas routines. We are sending more E-Cards within school instead of traditional Christmas cards and replacing our traditional presents to staff with charity donations to local good causes. I would encourage students to do the same, to show our appreciation of those around us, without putting them at increased risk.

I will update you all further next week and throughout the last two weeks of this, extremely challenging, Autumn Term.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

Year 12 Autumn reviews are now available on Go4Schools.

More information about them can be found from a letter sent to students on the Letters Home page.

4 LCS students, 3 in Year 9 and 1 in Year 8 have tested positive for COVID-19. We are in the process of contacting all close contacts of the students, as per Public Health England prodecure.

To all parents and carers.

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 looking forward to welcoming Year 9 and Year 11 students back tomorrow, after their period of Remote Learning. I would like to thank all students, as well as their parents and carers, for supporting our Remote Learning program over the last 2 weeks. An important reminder that students should not return to school if they are showing any symptoms of Covid-19, regardless of how mild these symptoms may be. Students should also not return if any members of their family have symptoms or are awaiting test results.

We are continuing to have cases of students testing positive for Covid-19 in most Year Groups, which are requiring groups of students to be sent home as close contacts. At present, most of the students testing positive are already self-isolating due to cases in their family, or are leading to small numbers of students being identified as close contacts. If numbers of positive cases continue to increase or there are large numbers being identified as close contacts, however, I cannot guarantee that whole Year Group bubbles will not be asked to work from home in the future. As always, any decision made will primarily be with the health and safety of students and staff in mind.

As we are now 10 weeks into the Autumn Term and with the number of cases of Covid-19 we have had, particularly recently, we are aware that some students have now been asked to self-isolate as close contacts several times. We are looking to put in additional support for these students, particularly if they have been sent home more than twice since September. We cannot predict which students will test positive for Covid-19 and, therefore, do not know who their close contacts will be. We will continue to do what we can, however, for the students most affected.

A reminder that school is closed on Monday 30th November for staff INSET. We are planning some Christmas activities for students in the last 3 weeks of term, details of which will follow in due course. It will be a different end of term than any we have had before, but we will still be marking the festivities in some form.

Finally, we have been contacted by our local Police Safer Neighbourhood team about E-Scooters. I have been asked to share the message below with all parents and carers;

Thank you, as always for your continued support. Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Teaching Assistant (English, Maternity Cover).

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

The timetables for the GCSE and A-level exams in Summer 2021 are now available to download.

You can download a copy from the Exams page.

An LCS Student in Year 10 has tested positive for COVID-19. We have contacted parents/carers of all close contacts of the students, as per Public Health England prodecure.

To all parents and carers.

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher

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

To all parents and carers.

Good afternoon from LCS.

There are a few important items in my update today, which I hope you will all find useful.

Firstly, I would like to thank all parents and carers for their feedback on our Remote Learning programme. I have received emails from a large number of people and all feedback has been gratefully received. We have adapted our programme throughout the week and have learned lessons ourselves for how we would do things differently if/when we are in the same position again. Overall, we are happy with how our remote lessons have gone so far and with the vast majority of students who have engaged in a positive manner.

7RMF are due to return to school from their period of Remote Learning on Monday, followed by Year 9 and Year 11 on Thursday 26th November. Please remember that these dates for students to return are only if they are well and not displaying any symptoms of Covid-19.  If your child is symptomatic, no matter how mild the symptoms may be, or if they are self-isolating due to a subsequent positive case since their period of Remote Learning began, they must not return to school. Please also do not send your child(ren) to school if they or anyone in the family is awaiting test results. This applies to all students at all times, as well as to students returning to school from Remote Learning.

The government have recently published updated guidance for parents and carers around school provision during the Covid-19 outbreak. The link to this guidance is below:

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-in-the-autumn-term

On a separate matter, we have started our run of Parents' Evenings which will take us up to the end of the Autumn Term. We held a very successful remote Year 7 'Settling In' evening with parents/carers and Form Tutors on Tuesday of this week and we have two Parents' Evenings, for Year 13 and Year 11 respectively, scheduled in the next few weeks. For the Year 13 and Year 11 Parents' Evenings we will be using a new system of video calls, using software from SchoolCloud. Parents/carers of students in Year 13 have already received this information and appointments are in the process of being booked. Year 11 parents/carers will receive this very soon and will be able to start booking appointments with teaching staff. This is a totally new way of running Parents' Evenings for us, but we are excited about using the system for the first time and I hope it will be well received by parents and carers.

In my last update I promised a link to our recent parent/carer and student survey results. These can be found on our website, at the link below:

https://www.littleover.derby.sch.uk/information.php#parents_survey

Finally, the letter below outlines support available to families through the Christmas period. This letter comes jointly from ourselves and Derby City Council and is aimed at families not already claiming Free School Meals for their children; see below:

If you wish to access this support, please follow the instructions contained within the letter. A downloadable copy can be found under Parents > Communications > Letters Home

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. I am always happy to hear from anyone with comments about the school, positive or otherwise, and would again encourage anyone to email me if they would like to do so. I will do my best to respond to every message I receive.

Thank you. Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

The results of the recent LCS Student and Parent/Carer surveys are now available.

You can find them at Parents > Communications > Parental Surveys.

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

To all parents and carers.

Good evening from LCS.

I hope this message finds you all well. Unfortunately, as you know, I had to make the decision yesterday to ask Year 9 and Year 11 students to work from home for the next 2 weeks. This was one of the hardest decisions I have had to make since taking the role of Acting Headteacher in January, but was a decision where I felt I had no choice.

As a school, we had a relatively small number of cases of Covid-19 amongst students in the first half-term; up to the last Wednesday of the half-term, we had 3 cases amongst students in 6 1/2 weeks. Over the last 2-3 weeks cases have risen in the community and in Derby as a whole, which has been mirrored in school. With the number of students currently being asked to self-isolate in Year 9 and Year 11, the decision to go to Remote Learning for 2 weeks with these groups was made both on health grounds and on the grounds of consistency of learning for those students at home, as well as those at school.

I am well aware of the inconvenience this decision will have caused some families, which I can only apologise for. With the number of cases locally, however, I cannot guarantee that the same situation may not happen again in other Year Groups, when the number of cases or students self-isolating reaches a certain point. All I can promise is that any decisions made will primarily be on the basis of the health and safety of our students and staff.

We have started our Remote Learning offer for students in Year 9 and Year 11 immediately this morning and, understandably, this has not been without technical problems. I hope most students have had a positive experience of lessons today and I would like to thank those parents and carers who have brought issues to our attention. Any issues or problems raised are being addressed and we are confident we will get better at delivering lessons remotely, over time. Today was the first day this school has ever attempted to teach a Remote Curriculum in this way and I would respectfully ask parents and carers to bear with us until we can iron out the problems. If you have any comments you would like to make on this issue, positive or otherwise, I would be happy to hear from parents and carers via email. As always, I will try my best to respond to any messages I receive.

As we expected under the circumstances, a small number of students have behaved inappropriately using the Microsoft Teams technology and those students have been contacted individually to remind them of our expectations for Remote Learning, which are the same as in the classroom. As the excitement and novelty of Remote Learning wears off, I hope students will settle in to using the technology in a consistent manner.

I would like to thank all parents and carers for their feedback on our recent Parent/Carer Survey. The responses to this, as well as our Student Survey, will help us to improve our work during the ongoing Covid-19 guidelines and restrictions. Results from both surveys will be posted on our website soon and I will include a link to these results in a future update.

Finally, thank you for the positive responses we have had to our Act of Remembrance film, which was shown to all students yesterday during our collective period of silence. For those of you who haven't seen it, the link is below:

• https://youtu.be/5hTTOQKK7C0

Thank you, as always, for your continued support in these challenging times.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Acting Headteacher

3 LCS students,1 in Year 10, 1 in Year 12 and 1 in Year 13 have tested positive for COVID-19. We are in the process of contacting all close contacts of the students, as per Public Health England prodecure.

To all parents and carers.

J. Wilding

Acting Headteacher