WLD Update for Parents and Carers - Friday 13 May 2022

Good afternoon,

Many thanks for the positive responses to the Ofsted report that was sent out yesterday.  You won't see the report on our website yet because it is still the subject of a formal complaint from me and Ofsted don't make the report public until that is resolved.  I don't hold out a huge amount of hope for a change in the judgement - complaining to Ofsted is a bit like trying to stop it raining in Lancashire! All parents and carers have been sent the report, which is right and proper, but it is not yet available to the wider public.  On a really positive note, our Year 11s have made a good start to their final examinations - speaking exams for French and German and vocational module resits this week. Everyone has exams in the coming week and students have now been issued with their individual timetables. 

All years

• Uniform:  Please be aware that leggings are not part of school uniform.  We have a small number of students who are arriving in leggings - please ensure that they are wearing correct school uniform.
• Damage:  We occasionally get some damage to property in school - rare, but it happens.  Please be aware that we always charge parents and carers for damage done by their child.
• Trips Day: There are still a number of places left on these trips - please ensure you have paid and consented by Friday, 16th June as low uptake will involve the trip being cancelled. 
• Message from our Attendance Officer (Mrs Gorrill) DID YOU KNOW...? If your child's attendance is above 97% (less than 6 days absence per year) they will almost certainly achieve grades and make expected progress. If your child's attendance is between 90% & 95% (missing up to 20 days per year) they are at risk of falling behind. If your child's attendance is between 80% & 90% (missing up to 40 days per year - 8 weeks!) they are missing so much time it will be difficult for them to keep up with lessons. If you have any questions regarding your child's attendance, email Mrs Gorrill - attendance@waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk 

Year 10

• Geography Field Trips 15th, 16th and 21st June: A few places are still available - please consent on parentpay by Monday, 23rd May.
• Business Trip to Trafford Centre on 28th June still has places available.  Please make payment by 10th June.
• Computer Science Trip to the Manchester Museum of Science on 29th June still has places available.  Please make payment by 15th June.

Year 11

• Exam arrangements: Please be aware that the normal lesson timetable for Year 11 continues to operate in parallel with the examinations – lessons are focused on revision in the relevant subject. Formally “study leave” as we would have known it 10 years ago no longer exists – students are meant to attend school right through until the end of June, in fact. Realistically that doesn’t happen – the final assembly, shirt signing etc… will be on the afternoon of their final exam (Physics on 23 June) and after that they no longer attend school.  Up to May half term, and probably a week after, Year 11 will have a lot of exams and, when they are not in exams, their normal timetable will have lessons in the subjects they have not yet finished, which they will need to attend.  In the first couple of weeks of June it will start to “thin out” and there will be more and more lessons where the students have completed the exams in that subject.  At that point we will have individual discussions with parents & students to determine whether they need to be in school on particular days.  This will be done on an individual basis and more details will follow as we reach that point. The overall examination timetable has been on our website https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/teaching-and-learning/examinations since the end of February.
• Revision sessions:  There are numerous revision sessions going on, as you would expect, and every student has lots of revision materials for all their subjects.  In addition GCSE PE teachers have asked me to inform you that they will be holding an extra revision session after school starting Wednesday, 18th May and they have sent an email/text out regarding revision resources on Teams for their subject.

Have a lovely weekend,

Best wishes

James Harris

Headteacher