Post inside this category will show up on the front page
Why do we celebrate Diversity Month at the St Lawrence Academy?
The St Lawrence is a truly diverse and multicultural school and we welcome our students, staff and visitors from every corner of the globe as well as representation! We believe we must celebrate what makes us different and find joy in our uniqueness.
It is always a long half term after the summer break.
Time is needed to adjust and get into routine, particularly for those new to the academy.
However, despite this, the atmosphere has been absolutely superb. You can feel the energy around the place and the focus on work and progress.
There has been a clarity of message from ATLs when they see their year groups.
They talk about the week ahead and reflect on the week that has gone.
Reflections have become important to our students. They happen in the classroom, in tutor groups, and in assemblies and can be around learning, behaviour or aspirations.
I have been so impressed seeing our students come together, understand the messages being delivered and carrying them out.
In Key Stage 3, there has been a focus on student leadership.
We have a lot of roles for those up for the challenge: collective worship leaders, peer leaders, and subject leaders.
A week on Friday (8th October) is the deadline for applications to these roles.
The prefect team has been going into assemblies and explaining the opportunities available, particularly to those in Years 7 and 8.
It was not long ago they were listening. They took up the roles which opened the door to them becoming prefects.
On a similar theme, rewards are an important part of being a student at the academy.
Those with the best attendance, most merits and least demerits will be invited to a free trip to the cinema on the 18th November.
It is the first such trip we have done and I’m excited about it.
I would also like to mention our careers focus. We want even our youngest students to have ideas and knowledge about what can happen post 16, be it college, university or apprenticeships.
Our Futures programme is being used to drive those aspirational messages home.
I said last week I would keep parents / careers informed should the academy be approached by the School-Age Immunisation Service (SAIS) about providing a location to vaccinate 12 to 15-year-olds against COVID-19.
Contact has been made and the children affected may have taken home consent forms. Vaccinations will take place next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
I would just like to reiterate the school’s role and responsibility.
It is SAIS which is the primary provider of the programme, legally responsible for its delivery and contractually responsible for the service.
The school’s only obligation is to provide an area for the vaccines to be administered and distribute the consent forms. We have now done both and details are on the letter provided.
Finally, just a reminder it is the Year 6 Open Evening tomorrow (Thursday) from 5pm. Please don’t forget to spread the word.
Thank you.
24th September 2021
Dear Parent /Carer
Year 7 Settling in Evening – Wednesday 6th October 2021 – 5.00pm to 6.00pm
Our Year 7 students have made a wonderful start to life in the academy and we are delighted to see that they have settled in really well.
On Wednesday 6th October 2021 we would like to invite you to the Year 7 Settling in Evening from 5.00pm to 6.00pm, where we will celebrate the great start to secondary school that has been made. You will have the opportunity to meet with your child’s tutors and year team to discuss how your child has settled into the academy.
We hope that you will take this opportunity to come and meet with us, where you will be able to discuss any issues you may have. We look forward to seeing you and continuing to work with you closely in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Matt Cretney
Year 7 Achievement Team Leader
PDY
This is not a place, nor is it my role, to debate whether children should or should not be given a vaccination against COVID-19.
However, parents / carers have been asking me this week and it is important to clearly communicate the role and responsibilities of a school following the Government’s decision 12 to 15-year-olds should be jabbed.
The School-Age Immunisation Service (SAIS) will, as it has always done, take responsibility for organising and administering the vaccination programme.
At this present time, we have not been approached by SAIS and nothing is in the diary.
Some further points to make are:
The school’s only obligation is, when approached by SAIS, we provide an area for the vaccines to be administered.
In addition, we will hand out consent forms SAIS has given us.
For more information about the vaccination programme, please go to Vaccination programme for children and young people
A big congratulations to Years 7 and 8 this week after taking tests, under examination conditions, in the main hall.
The national tests are designed to give teachers lots of background on an individual student.
This will enable us to help and support them in their journey with us, ensuring their outcomes are as good as possible at the end of Year 11.
The students have approached the tests in a sensible, mature and professional way.
They have had the benefit of being in an examination environment and that experience will serve them well further down the line.
For more information about exams – including when they take place throughout the year, dates for parents’ evenings and how you can support your child – please go to the section on our new website exam information
Homework is being set more frequently in all year groups and I would appeal to all students to bring a bag to school.
It might be empty at the beginning of the day but that will change. It helps with being prepared and organised.
There has been a fabulous response already to our annual collection of food at harvest time.
Students and their parents / carers have been very generous – one of our core values – and the donations will be given to Scunthorpe Food Bank.
Our students want to help and understand not all children are in the same, fortunate position as themselves.
This is a time of the year to come together and provide people in the community with the food they need.
Finally, another plug for our Year 6 Open Evening next Thursday, 30th September, between 4.30pm and 6.30pm.
Please help spread the word by sharing the link to our website year 6 open evening
Thank you.
Thank you to those who have already sent positive feedback on our new website.
It forms an important piece in our communication toolkit.
Social media and texts are terrific for shorter messages but the website (www.tsla.co.uk) gives us the opportunity to provide important information at the touch of a button and explain our vision to parents and students.
For some, used to the old website, it will be a case of getting used to the new version. But many will be arriving at the website for the first time.
Our hope is, whichever category you fall under, you like its functionality and find it easy to navigate.
Most importantly, it is evident what The St Lawrence Academy is about and what we are striving for.
The website makes it clear that our vision is giving our young people a transformational learning experience.
If you have a child with us, please take the time to navigate the site and discover how it can help you.
I would like to highlight some of the content.
Under the parent section, there is a full staff list. At the click of a button, parents / carers can communicate directly with teachers and ask for help, support or guidance.
In the same section, and on one of the five quick links on the right, there are details about uniform and where it can be ordered from.
Information on how to apply for free school meals is also easy to find.
All our letters home are uploaded to the site and the term dates and training days are there.
The school calendar can be accessed by one of the quick links on the right. Here, parents’ evenings and events are at the click of a button.
The student experience tab has a wealth of information about the curriculum, enrichment and futures. Alumni give an insight into their time at the academy and what they are doing now.
We have met a request that our extra-curricular timetable could be put on the site and fixtures and activities up until half term are included.
A digital Prospectus will be updated this week, going into more detail about our offer, and hard copies will be available at our Open Evening on 30th September.
The site looks brilliant on a mobile or tablet so, if you’re on the move, information is clear and easy to access.
We welcome feedback about the new site via [email protected]
We had our first sporting fixtures in 18 months last week and I would like to thank those who participated and those parents, staff and students who watched. It was great to see.
I was delighted to hear more than 60 students have expressed an interest since the start of term in taking up a musical instrument through peripatetic teaching.
Head of music Mrs Leatherland is really driving forward our offering and it forms an important part of what we are about.
It is fabulous to know we have this number of children who have the passion to be involved in music and, hopefully, this will transfer into memorable concerts and productions in years to come.
Music, just like the website, is being transformed.
Mr Dalowsky addresses the students during their first week to re engage them in the Academy’s vision
This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home…
