27 February 2018
It is bright snowy morning at Walton-le-Dale! Thanks to everyone for the efforts that you have made to get into school despite the weather.
I was talking to some of our students in assembly last week about "Small Great Things" - the idea that everything that we do matters and builds towards success. It comes from a quote from Martin Luther King, the American human rights activist, who said "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way". He did great things, as we know! The point that I was making was that I do not know what each of our students will do in the future - they might invent a cure for cancer, they might make a fortune, they might bring up a family, they might care for their elderly grandmother, they might run their own business, they might... who knows? None of these things happen by accident and all of them need attention to what we do each day. Every day, every hour, every minute, we should give our attention to what we are doing at that time and do it to the very best of our ability. Our futures are in our hands.
Year 11 Revision
It is that time of year where all Year 11s are now focusing on revision. The key to GCSE success is all in the preparation - learning the content and then practising applying it to examination questions. It is a task that needs to be undertaken step-by-step over the next 11 weeks. Everyone has access to the full revision plan - it is on the website at https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/curriculum/revision. After-school revision sessions have been underway for weeks and plans for Easter revision lessons will be out soon. The most important thing that parents and carers can do, please, is to check that the students are working each evening and ask to see evidence of what they have done. Should you have any queries about what your son or daughter should be doing please don't hesitate to contact us at school.
Attendance
We all know the link between attending school and academic success - if students are not in school their chance of doing well at GCSE is much reduced. I fully understand that several students have persistent medical conditions which mean that they are sometimes absent, but otherwise please treat attendance at school as you would attendance at work - it is really important to be in!
Independence
As you know our school is well known for the quality of its pastoral care and for our focus on young people as individuals. We try to go above and beyond for each of our students. This year we are working on enabling our students to work and study independently. Being able to take on a task and tackle it on your own without giving up is a key skill for GCSE and for employment. This is about homework, but it is also about attitude to tricky problems - we are deliberately raising the level of academic challenge across the school so that students have to think hard. So, if your son or daughter is finding their work a bit tricky then this is deliberate - please encourage them to keep trying, not to give up, and then to seek support from their teachers.
GCSE Options
This process is well underway with our current Year 9s. Reports went out by email yesterday and the next step is Year 9 Parents' Evening on Thursday this week. I look forward to seeing Year 9 parents and carers then.
Feedback
We are always open to feedback and discussion in order to improve what we do. Many thanks to all the parents and carers who completed questionnaires at the recent parents' evenings - the results are on the website at https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/parents - and they are really positive, thank you very much!
As always, please contact me at school should you wish to discuss anything further.
James Harris
Headteacher
