15 July 2021
Good afternoon,
Many thanks to everyone who attended the virtual awards evening yesterday and congratulations to all the students whose achievements and efforts were celebrated. It has been a difficult year for everyone so it is lovely to celebrate the successes of our young people. The recording of the event is online here.
Once again there are quite a few notices this week as we end one school year and plan to start another:
End of term: A reminder that the school finishes on Tuesday 20th July at 12.15pm and the buses will leave at 12.20pm.
Tim Hindle "500 Mile Walk": It is great to announce that we are approaching £1000 in donations - some cash remains to be counted. This will all go to an excellent cause - the Brockholes Nature Reserve in Preston where there is due to be a plaque in Tim's memory. If you would like to donate, please go to the Justgiving page.
Staggered start in September: We are very much looking forward to welcoming all our students back in September, along with our new Year 7s. The government requires us to undertake COVID testing of students as they return and this allows for a “staggered return” to enable this to happen. Following consideration of the guidance and discussion with other local schools we will be opening in September in the following way:
- Thursday, 2nd September: Years 7 & 11 return
- Friday, 3rd September: Years 8 & 10 return (along with 7 & 11)
- Monday, 6th September: All students in school.
COVID testing at the start of next term: The government has published information this week about the rules regarding COVID and the guidance for parents and carers is here. Please see the link here for the letter which has been sent out regarding testing. The consent form can also be found here. If you haven't already filled this in, please can you do so by Monday, 19th July so that we can do the necessary processing of the forms on Tuesday, 20th July.
Uniform and equipment: Please check the dates for ordering and collecting uniform and equipment (including stationery) for next term on the website here.
Bus passes: As you will be aware we have had to increase our bus prices following a 10 year price freeze. The details are here - please check the amounts that need to be paid.
Change of INSET day: For unavoidable practical reasons we need to move the INSET day from Monday 20 September to Tuesday 21 September. The term dates on the website have been changed appropriately.
Homework - a note from Mrs Long (Assistant Headteacher in charge of Teaching and Learning): For the final 7 school days of term, your child's teachers will not be setting subject-specific homework. Instead, they will be set two homework tasks that will allow them to get organised for September. This has been published on Classcharts:
- They have been asked to ensure that they are up-to-date with their learning in all subjects. All lessons are available on Teams in the relevant class and should be used as a source of revision where lessons have been missed or not understood.
- Secondly, they should access e-Platform, our online library, accessed via the website (all students have been sent logins) and they should read. This is a master skill that affects all curriculum areas so reading over the summer holidays is really vital to them getting off to a flying start in September.
Attitude to Learning Reports: Years 7, 8 and 9 parents should have received your child's ATL report, if you have not received it please email Mrs Hodgson on l.hodgson@waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk. Reports for year 10 will be sent out before we finish on Tuesday.
Year 7 Students self-isolating: Just a reminder to those students who were sent home to isolate, that their period of self-isolation ends on Friday, 16th and are due back in school on Monday, 19th July.
Music lessons - Years 7 - 9: Please see email that has been sent out regarding Music lessons from September.
Year 9 & Year 10: Virtual Summer Opportunities: Work Experience and Insight Days for a variety of interests including engineering, psychology, RAF, TV and Film, Construction, Veterinary, Finance, Architecture, Medicine, Creative and Digital and many more! Apply directly. The link to the information about these opportunities is here.
Year 10: Message from Miss Royal, Careers Co-ordinator: Reminder to complete our Careers Education questionnaire, it will only take a few minutes but will help greatly with our planning https://forms.gle/gGJ38C1Boa1D4RBb9
Best wishes and enjoy the sunshine this weekend,
James Harris
Headteacher
Posted by James Harris
Category: WLD Updates
