18 December 2017
I wish everyone a very Happy Christmas as Christians celebrate the coming of God to earth in the form of a baby. I hope that everyone enjoys the coming couple of weeks! A lot of hard work has been done by staff and students over this term and so everyone is looking forward to a break... In addition to lessons and study it has been great to celebrate the wide range of extra-curricular activities that go on at WLD - in particular at this time of year there has been a lot of fund-raising for charity (St Catherine's Hospice, a charity supporting girls in Uganda, Salvation Army and a shelter for the homeless) as well as our wonderful Community Christmas party which was held last Thursday (have a look at all the photos on the website).
At the end of this term we say farewell to two members of staff. Firstly, Mr Crook, who has been part of the school community for many years, is retiring. He has contributed in so many practical ways to the smooth running of the school and will be missed by staff and students alike. Secondly, Mr Golden, who teaches Science, is moving on to a school in Warrington. He has contributed greatly to Walton-le-Dale, not only as a talented teacher of Science, but also as the coach of our successful basketball teams and an able musician. We wish both of them well. In January we welcome Miss Bury, a highly experienced teacher of science, and Miss Lloyd, who joins our site staff.
Our students are successful when three things come together: excellent support, great teaching and independent hard work. We are also preparing our students for the world beyond school - as our motto reads: "Learning for Life". With this in mind once we get to the 2nd January the celebrations will be over and it will be time to turn our minds towards the new term and to get back to work. We have named that second week of the Christmas break "Week 39" and we are making sure that all our students have plenty of resources for independent study. This may be online (for example Mathswatch for Maths, Educake for Science) or in paper form, but everyone will have plenty to do to prepare themselves for the new term. There is a clear expectation of independent work during that week before everyone comes back to school. In particular, please be aware that Year 8 and 9 have examinations as soon as they return (https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/curriculum/examinations) and so they will need to be revising.
On a very practical note, it is wonderful that our school is very popular, but this leads to some issues of parking at the front and back of school, particularly at the end of the day. Please can I ask that you respect the double yellow lines that are clearly marked on the roads around school. A particular issue is the entrance to the industrial estate opposite the front of school. Please avoid parking too close to the entrance as the trucks cannot turn in or out. This is in the interests of the safety of all our students. Parking a bit further away and asking your son or daughter to walk to your car might well be a practical approach. Please also be aware that, in a very positive development, Footprints Childcare (http://www.footprintschildcare.co.uk/), a local nursery and pre-school, are going to be using the "Children's Centre" building on our site during the school day from January onwards.
On another practical note, we have some students who are definitely in need of new appropriate shoes. The correct types of shoes are identified on our website, as always, at https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/parents/uniform. Please ensure that your son or daughter has suitable shoes for the start of the new term. Any financial issues relating to uniform, please contact Mrs Laverty at school.
As always, please keep an eye on the website (https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/) and the Twitter feed (@WLDHighSchool) for up-to-date news and possible school closures in the event of inclement weather as well as the calendar for upcoming events. (https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/calendar). Do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or concerns.
Have a very Happy Christmas!
James Harris
Headteacher
