The recent White Ribbon campaign to raise awareness of violence perpetrated against young women and girls has proved very successful and the video produced by Derby young people and the Voices in Action group has been nominated for a Charity Film Award.

For more details and to vote for the Community Action Derby film in the Charity Film Awards, please visit the Smiley Charity Film Awards Website.

Many congratulations to Community Action Derby and all our young people involved in this campaign.

Information regarding the Year 9 options process is now available.

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

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding Christmas Jumper Day and end of term arrangements.

To all parents/carers

Good afternoon, from LCS.

I have two notices to update you with today. I plan to send one final update to all parents and carers before the end of the Autumn Term, to include a summary of results from the recent Parent and Carer Survey, which closed on Friday.

Christmas Jumper Day

We will be holding our annual Christmas Jumper Day on Tuesday 19th December. Staff and students wishing to wear a Christmas Jumper may do so, in return for a minimum donation of £1.

This year, all proceeds from our Christmas Jumper Day will go towards the funding of a bench in memory of Mrs Middleton, which we hope to site close to her teaching room in L3. All donations are through ParentPay and can be made at the link below:

• LCS Christmas Jumper Donations on ParentPay

Minimum donation is £1, but larger donations would be welcome, if people wanted to make them.

Students and staff not wishing to wear a Christmas Jumper on 19th December may still donate, if they wish, but this is not a non-uniform day, so normal school uniform should be worn by any students not taking part.

End of Autumn Term

Autumn Term will end at the earlier time of 1:40pm on Friday 22nd December. There will be a school bus for students wishing to use it, which should arrive at school before 2pm.

All students should return to school for the start of the Spring Term, on Monday 8th January 2024.

Thank you for your continued support.

J. Wilding
Headteacher

A brief survey has been emailed to all LCS Parents and Carers.

To all parents and carers, 

Mr Wilding has sent a link for this survey, via email, to all LCS parents and carers.

We would be grateful if parents and carers could complete and return this survey by 4pm on Friday December 8th.

All responses are welcome and will help us to make LCS an even better school.

Thank you. 

J Wilding
Headteacher

Starting on 5th December LCS students will be performing festive songs as part of our "Twelvish Days of Christmas".

Each day we will be getting into the Christmas spirit with a festive performance from LCS students. From carolling classics to modern toe-tappers we'll be sure to get you ready for the winter break!

The Timetable for the Year 13 Mock Exams in January is now available to download.

You can download the timetables from the Exams > Exams Information.

LCS is hosting a reunion and awards evening for the Year 11 class of 2023 on the evening of Thursday 14th December.

The event will include presentation of GCSE certificates, subject awards, a guest speaker and the presentation of the funds raised during the Year 11 Charity Week in July.

Students should arrive in S-block at 6pm, where drinks will be available, with presentations starting in the main school hall at 6:30pm.

Parents and carers are welcome to attend and should arrive from 6:15pm in the main school hall.

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding the White Ribbon Campaign, The "Big Ambition" survey, the upcoming INSET day and student clubs and activites.

To all parents/carers

Good afternoon, from LCS.

I have several items to update you with today. I hope you find this information useful.

White Ribbon Campaign

Current Derby Youth Mayor and LCS Sixth Form Student, Munti Muntasir, has written the summary below, to make parents and carers aware of the White Ribbon campaign, which we are supporting in school this week.

The White Ribbon Campaign aims to raise awareness against violence perpetrated towards young women and girls. This year, in particular, the message behind the campaign is "Change the story" where young men educate other young men on appropriate language and behaviour towards young women.

We decided to run the campaign from the perspective of young people through the Voices in Action Youth Council, as violence against young women has been an increasingly prevalent issue. For example, almost 1 in 4 adolescent women (15-19) have experienced some sort of physical/sexual violence, according to UN Women. Hence, it is imperative that young people take a stance to raise their voice and speak out against such acts.

The main message behind the campaign is to "Change the story" and educate young men to be aware of the language they use in private and publicly towards women. Furthermore, we want to encourage our young people to speak out against any unusual behaviour that they notice and take action.

LCS will be supporting the White Ribbon campaign by asking staff and students to wear a white ribbon throughout the week and through showing of a video produced by the Voices In Action Youth Council, to raise awareness.

The White Ribbon Campaign will run from Monday 20th to Friday 24th November.

Anyone wishing to support the White Ribbon campaign is encouraged to donate to the Safe and Sound Butterfly Campaign, by clicking the following link:

• Safe and Sound Butterfly Campaign

The Big Ambition

Schools have been asked to share the information below with students, parents and carers, by Dame Rachel De Souza, Children's Commissioner for England.

By now, I hope that you have seen my national campaign 'The Big Ambition'.

Children or parent/carers can find information about The Big Ambition at the website below:
https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/the-big-ambition/

The survey can be completed here: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/the_big_ambition/

It is really important that the pupils at Littleover Community School have participated in The Big Ambition survey and had their say.

I want to ensure that the voices of all children in the Derby area are fairly represented in the findings, so that I can share their views with the most senior members of the country.

I must reiterate that it is vital that all children have their voice heard through this survey because, as Children's Commissioner for England, I have a statutory duty to protect and promote the views and interests of children. The Big Ambition provides a much-needed opportunity for the children of England to tell political decision makers what is important to them ahead of the General Election. I will be sharing their responses with Government to ensure that children's voices are heard.

INSET Day

A reminder to all parents/carers that Friday 1st December is an INSET Day and students should not attend school. Please be aware that staff will not be on site on this day, so will not be able to answer messages via telephone or email.

For emergency issues related to safeguarding, messages can be sent using the contact details used over school holidays, which can be found on the LCS Safeguarding Page.

A reminder, also, that Term dates for this academic year and for 2024/25 are available under School > Important Dates > Term Dates.

Clubs and Activities

The list of available clubs and activities for students this term has been updated and can be found under Students > Clubs and Activities.

There are some fantastic activities continuing to run this term and we would encourage all students to try at least one activity or club, either as a regular or new attender.

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

Best wishes.
Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Headteacher

Derby Youth Mayor and LCS Sixth Form student Munti Muntasir is leading a campaign to raise awareness around violence perpetrated towards young women. The campaign is called the White Ribbon campaign and we will be supporting it in school. Munti will be talking to LCS staff about the project and students will be shown a short video he has produced with others from Voices In Action.

Munti had the following to say regarding the campaign:

"The White Ribbon Campaign aims to raise awareness against violence perpetrated towards young women and girls. This year, in particular, the message behind the campaign is "Change the story" where young men educate other young men on appropriate language and behaviour towards young women.

We decided to run the campaign from the perspective of young people through the Voices in Action Youth Council, as violence against young women has been an increasingly prevalent issue. For example, almost 1 in 4 adolescent women (15-19) have experienced some sort of physical/sexual violence, according to UN Women. Hence, it is imperative that young people take a stance to raise their voice and speak out against such acts.

The main message behind the campaign is to "Change the story" and educate young men to be aware of the language they use in private and publicly towards women. Furthermore, we want to encourage our young people to speak out against any unusual behaviour that they notice and take action."

LCS will be supporting the White Ribbon campaign by asking staff and students to wear a white ribbon throughout the week and through showing of the video produced by Munti, to raise awareness.

The White Ribbon Campaign will run from Monday 20th to Friday 24th November.

Online donations can be made to Safe and Sound at their JustGiving page.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Cleaner (AM).

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

The Timetable for the Year 11 Mock Exams in December is now available to download.

You can download the timetables from the Exams > Exams Information.

An email has been sent to all parents and carers today (Tuesday 7th November) containing information regarding the Parent Governor Ballot. The voting deadline is Wednesday 15th November.

Congratulations to former LCS student Hugo Milner, who won gold in the recent Triathlon World Cup event in Miyazaki, Japan.

Hugo had to fight back from over a minute behind the leader during the running stage to win. An incredible achievement!

You can watch highlights of the race on Youtube via the following link:

• Hugo Milner wins Triathlon World Cup Gold

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding parents evenings, the upcoming Sixth Form Open Evening, applications for leave of absence and student illness guidance.

To all parents/carers

Good afternoon, from LCS.

I have a couple of brief items of information for you all today, in what is my final update of this, very long, half-term.

Parents' Evenings

The annual cycle of Parents' Evenings will begin again early next half-term. Our Parents' Evenings will continue to use the on-line SchoolCloud system for this academic year, and parents/carers of students in each Year Group will be contacted with instructions on how to book appointments, ahead of each respective date.
The dates of Parents' Evenings for this year are as follows:

• Thursday 9th November – Year 11
• Thursday 16th November – Year 7 'Settling in' meeting with Form Tutors.
• Thursday 30th November – Year 13
• Thursday 25th January 2024 – Year 9
• Thursday 8th February- Year 10
• Thursday 29th February – Year 7
• Thursday 14th March – Year 12
• Thursday 25th April – Year 8

LCS Sixth Form Open Evening

Our Open Evening for parents/carers and students looking to make applications to LCS Sixth Form for September 2024 will be held tomorrow evening.

There are two presentations for parents/carers and students, in the Main Hall at 5:45pm and 6:30pm. The content of these presentations is the same, so parents/carers and students should only attend one. If we reach capacity in the Main Hall for the first presentation at 5-45pm, we may ask parents/carers and students to return for the later presentation.

Staff will be available to answer questions about individual subjects in the Sports Hall, from 6pm to 7-30pm.

Applications for places in our Sixth Form for September 2024 can be made immediately after Open Evening and the deadline for applications to be submitted is 4pm on Friday 1st December.

Applications for Leave of Absence

We have recently received an increase in requests for leave of absence for students during term time. As stated in our Attendance Policy and as is the case with all schools nationally, leave of absence for students can only be authorised during term time in 'exceptional circumstances', for reasons other than illness. To be classed as 'exceptional circumstances', it must be clear that any absence is unavoidable and could not have happened at any other time, or in school holidays.

Applications for leave of absence must be made in writing to the Headteacher and evidence may be requested in each case.

We always aim to publish our term dates well in advance, to allow parents and carers enough time to plan family holidays, and term dates for both this academic year and 2024/25 can be found on our website at the following link:

• LCS Term Dates

Student illness - Local Authority guidance for parents and carers

We have been asked by Derby City Council to circulate several pieces of information and guidance to parents and carers, related to some common illnesses affecting children and young people at this time of year.

We have collated this information into one area on our school website, which can be found at the link below:

• Information for Parents > Medical Issues

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

It is one year to the day that OFSTED visited LCS and I firmly believe that the school is even stronger now than it was at that time. The progress we have made, and continue to make, cannot happen without the support of all our parents and carers and, hopefully, we can continue to progress and improve together in the months and years to come.

It has been a very long half-term and we are all due a break next week. I hope all our students enjoy their holiday and I look forward to seeing everyone again on Monday 6th November.

Best wishes.
Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Headteacher

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding the LCS Open Day and Evening, the upcoming Sixth Form Open Evening. fundraising in memory of Sarah Middleton and National County Lines Intensification Week.

To all parents/carers

Good morning, from LCS.

I have a couple of items to make you all aware of today, but, firstly, I would like to thank you all for your support with our recent Open Day and Open Evening. The number of visitors we had on the day was back to pre-Covid 19 levels and both presentations for potential new Year 7 students for next September were full.

Thank you if you visited us on Open Day and Open Evening and please also thank your child(ren) if they gave their time to work in departments with staff.

Sixth Form Open Evening

Our Sixth Form Open Evening will be held on Thursday 26th October, from 5.45pm to 7.30pm. As with our whole school Open Evening, there will be two presentations for parents/carers and students considering an application to our Sixth Form for September 2024.

More details will follow about our Sixth Form Open Evening, over the next week.

Sarah Middleton fundraiser

You will all be aware that our friend and colleague, Sarah Middleton, passed away towards the end of the last academic year, after a long illness. Sarah's family, friends and LCS staff are planning to run the Carsington 10k and half in December, to raise money for a memorial bench at Eyes Meadow and a memorial event to remember Sarah.
Sarah's family have set up a GoFundMe page for anyone who would like to donate towards their goal of £1500 and I have attached the link, below, for anyone interested in making a contribution:

• https://gofund.me/8b79dfcb

A message from Derbyshire Police

National County Lines Intensification Week runs this week, from 15/10/2023. County lines is the name given to drug dealing where organised criminal groups (OCGs) use phone lines to move and supply drugs, usually from cities into smaller towns and rural areas. They exploit vulnerable people, including children and those with mental health or addiction issues, by recruiting them to distribute the drugs. This is often referred to as 'drug running'. Criminals may also use a vulnerable person's home as their base of operations. This is known as 'cuckooing'.

A leaflet containing additional information on County Lines can be found on the Children's Society website, at the page below:

• https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/

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

A reminder that Wednesday 25th October is a staff INSET Day and school will be closed to students. Our half-term holiday is from Monday 30th October to Friday 3rd November.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Headteacher

The LCS Sixth Form Open Evening 2023 will be held on Thursday 26th October

There will be two identical presentations to prospective students and their parents/carers beginning at 5.45pm and 6.30pm respectively as well as various stalls and information displays throughout the evening.

We hope you find the Open Evening both interesting and informative and look forward to seeing you there.

No booking is necessary.

More detailed information can be found on the Sixth Form > Applications page.

The LCS Governing Body has a vacancy for a parent governor.

For more information please see the School > Governors page.

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding changes to term dates, the upcoming LCS Open Day, Roadworks, a Police Commissioner survey, and the childhood bereavement network.

To all parents/carers

Good afternoon, from LCS.

I have several updates and a couple of new items to inform you of today.

Term dates 2024/25

I have now consulted with school staff, Governors and parents/carers on my proposal to move the term dates for the academic year 2024/25. The vast majority of responses I have received, from all parties consulted, have been in favour of my proposal and I have informed the Local Authority today, to confirm this change.

I can now confirm that LCS will be starting Autumn Term 2024 on Thursday 5th September. Thursday 5th and Friday 6th September 2024 will be staff INSET Days and students will start their term on Monday 9th September 2024. The academic year 2024/25 at LCS will end on Friday 25th July 2025.

Thank you to all parents/carers who contacted me during the consultation period.

Term dates for the current academic year and for 2024/25 can be seen via the link below:

• LCS Term Dates
  

LCS Open Day

As mentioned in my previous email update, our school Open Day and Open Evening will be held on Thursday 12th October. Tours during the school day are by prior appointment and are only for parents/carers of potential students for September 2024 admission.

All current LCS parents/carers and members of our wider school community are welcome to visit us on the evening of 12th October, from 5pm to 7pm. As previously requested, we would be extremely grateful if visitors could walk or find alternative transport, as we have very limited car parking on site.

For those parents/carers of current Year 11 students considering an application to LCS Sixth Form for September 2024, our Sixth-Form Open Evening will be held on Thursday 26th October.

Roadworks

Further roadworks have started this week outside the main school entrance on Pastures Hill. As we were informed of these works in advance on this occasion, we have met with the contractors who are working to minimise potential traffic disruption for students travelling to and from school. Temporary Traffic Lights will be in operation after 9am and before 3pm each week day, in an attempt to keep issues to a minimum, but, as in the past, there will be an impact on roadside parking.

I would respectfully ask all parents/carers to help us with this situation, by not attempting to park in and around these ongoing roadworks and by dropping/picking-up students from further away from the school site.

Police Commissioner Survey

I have been asked to share the message below with all parents/carers:

Childhood Bereavement Network

Our Safeguarding Lead, Ms Jenkins, has asked me to make parents/carers aware of the extension of bereavement benefits to families where the parents had not been married. Only a small proportion of eligible families are applying so far, and the Child Bereavement Network is campaigning to raise awareness.

For further information, please visit the Child Bereavement Network at the web address below:

• https://childhoodbereavementnetwork.org.uk/cohabiting

Thank you for your continued support of our school, our staff and our students. A reminder that this half-term runs until Friday 27th October and students are on holiday from Monday 30th October to Friday 3rd November.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Headteacher

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: ICT Technician

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.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Wellbeing Coach

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

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

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

Mr Wilding has sent an update to parents and carers regarding the upcoming LCS Open Day, Open Evening, and free school meals.

To all parents/carers

We are already well into the routine of term again and students have made an excellent start to the new school year.

I have two brief items to draw your attention to in my update today.

School Open Day and Open Evening

Our annual Open Evening will be held on Thursday 12th October.

There will be a programme of classroom displays and activities from 5-00pm to 7-00pm, as well as opportunities for you to talk to staff and students about the school. All parents/carers are welcome to visit us during the evening and I hope as many of you as possible will be able to attend. If you are intending to visit us on Open Evening, please be aware that we are extremely short of on-site parking, so if you can walk to school it would be much appreciated.

Tours during the school day will be on offer to potential parents/carers for September 2024 admission, only, and not for current parents/carers. These tours must be booked in advance.

There will be two presentations on the evening, at 5pm and 7pm, in the Main Hall, but again these are for those parents/carers looking for September 2024 admission.

Free School Meals

If your child is eligible for 'free school meals' and you register them for this, the school will receive extra funding called 'Pupil Premium'. We use this extra money to improve the educational provision and resources at the school. The attached letter (link below) ahs further instruction on how to apply for free School Meals, if you do not already do this and believe your child may be eligible. The additional link, below, is to the Local Authority FSM Application Form.

• Letter to Parents re: Free School Meals - Sept 2023
• DCC Application Form for Free School Meals

Thank you for your continued support.

Keep safe.

J. Wilding
Headteacher

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

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

LCS has 3 vacancies for the position of: Teaching Assistant.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

We are pleased to share with our school community that Littleover Community School has been selected as one of just fifteen Phase 1 lead schools for the NCLE Language Hubs initiative. We will be helping to support high quality language education in England by working with identified partner schools.

What exactly is the National Consortium for Language Education?

Recognising the value of good language education both to students and to the country, the NCLE is creating a national network of up to 25 lead hub schools across England. Each lead hub school will deliver training to up to seven partner schools to improve standards of language teaching and learning across the country.

The key aims for the NCLE are to:

1. encourage high quality language teaching in schools
2. increase languages uptake at GCSE
3. support levelling up opportunities for disadvantaged students
4. address the performance of boys
5. better recognise and support the rich diversity of languages in addition to English spoken by one in every five of our students.

The NCLE is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and delivered by IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (UCL IOE) in partnership with the British Council and the Goethe-Institut.

You can find out more about this project on the NCLE website

How does it work?

The first group of hub schools has been selected and Littleover Community School is one of them. Having been recognised by the NCLE for the quality of our language teaching, we will be training a small number of partner schools to share best practice, discuss ideas and support quality language learning activities. We're working on our plans now and will send regular updates as the project develops.

Why is the government encouraging language education in schools?

Languages are crucial for work and life in our globally competitive economy. We believe that languages and intercultural awareness can help to foster universal understanding and contribute to building a peaceful and harmonious world future.

The Department for Education recognises that, as a country, we need more and better language skills and that these add value and widen opportunities for individuals, communities and society.

What are the benefits for students of the NCLE programme?

The ability to speak other languages is an incredibly useful asset for students, both professionally and personally. Research shows that there are clear educational, personal, cultural, social and career benefits in being able to communicate confidently in another language.

There is a particular emphasis in the NCLE on delivery high quality language learning to students from disadvantaged areas to support improvements in social mobility.

What is the Goethe-Institut Gimagine project?

The government is especially keen to promote the learning of German, because the numbers studying this important language have fallen in recent years. That's why the Gothe-Institut is a key partner.

Their GIMAGINE project promotes and supports the learning of German as a foreign language in the UK. The project centres around students, teachers and schools. Apart from offering initiatives for professional advancement to German teachers, the project can fund learning German through scholarships and provides schools with classroom materials and teaching resources.

You can find out more on the Gimagine website

We are extremely excited about developing this project at LCS and the benefits it will bring to our students and those in our partner schools.

Anyone requesting further information on this project should contact Mrs C Spalding (Deputy Headteacher).

The LCS Fitness Centre is now open to the public, with a gym and various sports and dance facilities available for bookings.

Please see the Sports and Arts Facilities page for more details.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Cleaner (AM).

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

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

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: ICT Technician

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Finance/Administration Officer.

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.

LCS has a vacancy for the position of: Wellbeing Coach

For more information please see the Job Vacancies Page.