27 November 2017
Headteacher's Updates
As we head towards Christmas with decorations going up everywhere it is amazing how swiftly this term is passing! This is particularly important for our Year 11s for whom, as we keep on telling them, every day counts. To their credit, almost all of them have realised that they need to work really hard this year. Attendance at "Period 6" on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays has been great, and I know that most of them are putting in a "regular working day" with 2 hours study after school each night. Information from the teachers of Year 11 is very positive about their attitude, but time is short. College applications are underway and we have the vital "mock interview" day on Thursday 7th December where they get a chance to be interviewed by an external interviewer and get constructive feedback. Mock examinations start on Monday 4th December - on a minor note, please check that they have the correct equipment (black pens are the only type allowed).
Our focus this year is on the level of challenge and the level of independence that we expect of our students. You know us as a school which is extremely good at supporting our students and building positive relationships - we are now focused on using these excellent relationships to help our young people to challenge themselves and to work as hard for themselves as we do for them! The amount of work that our students do out of school is very important to us - they cannot succeed in the new GCSEs without a significant amount of work, revision, review and self-study outside school hours. We are reviewing the type and amount of homework set across the school - should you have any comments, please let me know. Teachers have also been working within the classroom on strategies to promote challenge and independence.
As we all know, young people cannot succeed in school if they are absent so please be aware that we have brought our attendance policy into line with other Lancashire schools by introducing the use of fixed penalty notices as a last resort. Information is on our website at https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/parents/policies. If your child is absent, please use the answerphone or the absence notes page in the planner to let us know the reason for absence.
Year 7 are out at Hothersall Lodge with their forms this week - this is always a great event in the first term for the new year group. Uptake for our Italy, China and Austria trips has been great - there are just a couple of places left on the Easter 2019 China trip - please let Mrs Shaw know if you are interested in your son or daughter having the experience of a lifetime.
Uniform is looking very smart across the school - despite the fact that teenagers seem to be reluctant to wear coats even when the weather is terrible! A reminder about shoes - the shoes allowed are described at https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/parents/uniform. Should you have any financial issues around uniform, please contact Mrs Laverty.
There are so many positive things going on in school that the website (www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk) is the best place to keep up to date, along with the Twitter feed (@WLDHighSchool). Many thanks for your support of the school and, as always, should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. We shall be reviewing our communication with parents & carers in the coming weeks so if you have any initial comments on this, please let me know.
Regards
James Harris
Headteacher
