End of term letter - Winter 2018
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End of Autumn Term update - Lutterworth Academies Trust
Dear Parents & Guardians
It is always a busy time at the Lutterworth College and The Sir Frank Whittle Studio School but I wanted to take this opportunity, at the end of a very long half term, to provide a roundup of current events at the Trust:
Buses
A number of parents have contacted the Trust regarding various issues around the provision of bus services to and from the Trust schools. Whether your child receives a LCC provided place on a bus service, or you contract directly with Beaver Bus/ Arriva, the Trust obviously would want to ensure that bus operators manage their services in a compliant manner in order that students can travel to and from school safely and comfortably. Where there have been safety concerns about the boarding of buses on the College site we have taken the following direct steps:
- We have stopped the College site being used as a transit point for students from other schools
- This term we have introduced a safer boarding process at the end of the school day
Although these actions may mean the services are a little delayed at the end of the day we believe that parents will agree it is better to have a safe service than a fast one. I am due to meet with LCC and the bus companies in the new term to discuss other 'in-transit' concerns raised by parents and ahead of this meeting we will be sending out a parental survey ahead of that meeting for all to add their feedback and comments.
CCTV
Following some incidents on the College site, not least a substantial theft of lead from the roof of The Laurels building, we are contracting a company to install CCTV around the site in the Spring term. We aim to have CCTV cover for as many external public areas as possible. Unlike other schools we are not, as yet, putting CCTV in classrooms although they could well be in other public areas inside school.
Catering
Within this year’s external financial review came a very strong recommendation that the Trust should outsource its catering provision. Again, this is a challenging provision as we currently operate five catering outlets across the whole site and we have a very well established and loved internal catering provision led brilliantly by Jayne Verey. During January however, members from Student Parliament will be involved in making the final choice of external caterers and we expect this provision to be in place from Easter 2019. There will inevitably be changes to the menu but our Trust mantra here has always been that our catering operation should aim to provide the healthiest and widest choice for the most competitive price possible. Once the new caterers have been selected we will notify parents and students.
Breck's Last Game
On Thursday 10th January 2019 (7pm-8pm) the Trust will be holding a presentation, only for parents, about the showing of the film ‘Breck’s Last Game’ to all students at the Trust. Breck’s Last Game is the real story of Breck Bednar, a 14 year old Surrey schoolboy, who was murdered in Essex after being groomed by someone he met through online gaming. The learning for our students includes lessons and discussions that will follow the showing of the short (approximately 5 minutes) film about Breck which is itself hard hitting and potentially upsetting as it is a violent and disturbing story.
The evening of the 10th January is to show parents the short film and to talk through the dangers of online gaming. It will also inform parents if they wish to withdraw their children from seeing the film. The film and the trailer have been classified by the British Board of Film Classification which determined it would hold a 15 certificate. However, it is important to say that many children will be targeted much younger than 15 by online groomers – and that makes it even more important why we feel we should show the full version to children as young as 11.
If you wish to come along to the evening, please confirm your attendance by email to Mrs Cullen – e.cullen@lutterworthcollege.com – so we have an idea about how many parents will be attending. Please note that the film is not being publically distributed and is not downloadable, hence we cannot provide a link to it at this time if you are unable to attend. Thank you for your support with this important project to help keep our children safe online.
Friends of Lutterworth College (FOLC)
FOLC held two fundraising events in 2018 - the College Colour Run in July and the Christmas Quiz in December. We are very pleased to announce that these two events alone raised over £2000 and with donations from Parentpay, the Santa Fun Run etc. we will be in a position to provide some further outdoor seating near the Astro-Turf Pitch. If you are interested in supporting the College by getting involved as a parent in FOLC please look out for further announcements in 2019.
I'd like to personally thank the stalwart members of FOLC who took their just deserves by winning the FOLC Christmas Quiz .. by a considerable margin!
The Sir Frank Whittle Studio School
I am aware that there is local speculation about the future of The Sir Frank Whittle Studio School. This is a very challenging situation as the Trust have invested substantially in the provision of the original Studio School model. Unfortunately, the recruitment numbers and the student outcomes over the last few years have called the long term viability of the Studio School into question. The Trust is currently working with the DfE and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to find a way forward here and I expect to be in a position to update parents in January about what the future holds. What reassurance I can give at this time is, whatever the decision, current students at the Studio School will complete their courses at the Trust with the coaching and work placement models in place. We will work our hardest to ensure that whatever happens behind the scenes will have as little impact as possible on front line provision and services for current students.
Lutterworth College Attainment results 2018
We are pleased to announce that following the 'highest attaining school in Leicestershire' accolade accrued by the College in 2017, it went onto maintain a place in the top three attaining schools in Leicestershire in 2018. This is an even more satisfying outcome when recognised that those results in 2018 were achieved by students that left their own schools at the end of Year 9 to start afresh at the College in Year 10. Recruitment into Year 7 from local primary schools at the College looks robust for the third year running and we are again very likely to hit our limit of 240 pupils in September 2019. The 2019-20 academic year further represents another milestone for the College as the original Year 7s that entered the College in 2015-16 move into Year 11. Our Year cohorts have all grown over the last few years as many students have opted to leave their original home schools for the College. The College Sixth Form provision also continues to strengthen with outcomes over the last two years far surpassing historical records. Recruitment for 2019 looks good with thirty A level & BTEC courses on offer but places still available.
Statutory Inspection of Anglican & Methodist Schools - SIAMS
We fully expect, as a Church School, that the College will undergo a SIAMS inspection within 2019. Our last inspection of this type in 2013 received an outcome of a 'Good' classification. The SIAMS framework has changed since then and we have made some big steps recently towards providing an education based on a moral framework. It is the school's status as a Church school that we want to see underpinning the outcomes for our students. Some steps this term have seen students chose The Good Samaritan as our school story and context as well as providing a substantial entry to the Diocese Art competition (led by Art teacher Holly Jephcote) and providing a truly inspirational student display at the Diocese nativity service at Leicester Cathedral (led by Dance Performing Arts teachers Faye Hodges & Richard Rolfe). We must continue to do more of the same as we strive for another year of working closely with the Church of England through the Diocese of Leicester.
GCSE curriculum & options
This term we have undergone a quite extensive process regarding our GCSE options and hopefully we have resolved most, if not all, of the concerns raised. Our options at GCSE remain extensive and students retain the pathway followed by older siblings in Year 9 or 10 but hopefully have some renewed guidance as we travel towards choices that will serve our students best as they go into the world.
Pre-Public Examination results - PPEs
The results for the Pre-Public Examinations taken by Year 11's & Year 13's recently will be released to students on Friday 18th January 2019. Good luck to all students who have worked hard and taken their PPE’s in December!
New student timetables
Due to staff leaving the Trust there have been a number of changes to students timetables. Students were issued with new timetables today ready for the first day of the Spring Term. Timetables will also update on GO 4 Schools on Monday 7th January and students can also check there for new timetables (should the paper copies get lost).
Sapere Aude
If you did not manage to access the brilliant Autumn version of the College magazine - Sapere Aude - please find the following link to it:
https://www.lutterworthcollege.org.uk/docs/Newsletters/Sapere_Aude_-_November_2018.pdf
Finally...
I'd like to thank all staff, students, parents and everyone else that make Lutterworth Academies Trust such a special place for students to learn, flourish and succeed and I wish you all the very best for Christmas and the new year. I will see you all on the other side of the celebrations on Monday 7th January 2019.
All the best
Nick Summers
Headteacher
Lutterworth Academies Trust