News

Monday 14th November 

 

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

Welcome to our newsletter for the tenth week of the Autumn Term 2022. It’s Week A, so whole school assemblies are taking place.They are being led by Mr Bates (Deputy Headteacher) and Ms Jackson (Director of Sixth Form) and focus on the ‘Cost of Living Crisis’ - its causes, consequences and how we can support our community in these challenging times. Students were reminded about the support available in school, including our ‘Food Store’ where food and toiletries are available for those most in need.  Our character focus for this fortnight is ‘grit’ - demonstrating passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long term goals. A character trait appropriate for us all in these challenging times.

Last week, I mentioned about whole school attendance and punctuality. It is great to see our rates of attendance rising and being above the national average. A reminder that our target for all students is attendance of 96% or better. 

On Thursday last week, Mr Leggett (Deputy Headteacher) reminded staff of our homework protocol. Homework will be set according to the frequency below:

KS3 + KS4

• 1 lesson per fortnight = No homework

• 2 lessons per fortnight = 1 piece of homework per fortnight

• 3 or more lessons per fortnight = 1 piece of homework per week

 

KS5

• Pupils at KS5 should spend the same amount of time carrying out structured independent learning as they spend in lessons (5 hours per teacher per week). 

 

Finally, a reminder that all students represent the Lampton School community when they are travelling to and from school. This means full uniform must be worn correctly and respectful and safe behaviour is required. My thanks to the majority of students who represent the school very well by their mature and self-regulated behaviour. A small minority of students have let us down by behaving in an antisocial way outside of the shops on the A4. They are receiving consequences for their behaviour and the school will always take action where behaviour outside of school brings our community into disrepute. 

With best wishes for the week ahead,

Stephen Davis

 

Medicines

Please be aware that students should not be carrying medicine with them unless it is emergency medicine as part of the Health Care Plan. It has come to our attention that some students have paracetamol with them. Students are not permitted to carry paracetamol and all medicines need to be stored safely in Student Services. If you wish for your child to receive paracetamol within school, please notify Ms Sonia Dhadli sdhadli@lampton.org.uk in writing and your child must hand in medication to the Student Services Team for safekeeping. This is a part of our medical policy which can be found here: https://www.lampton.org.uk/341/key-information/category/4/student-behaviour-welfare

 

Attendance 

As raised by Mr Davis, our student attendance target is 96% or better. All parents/carers are contacted via SIMSInTouch with their child’s individual attendance percentage on a three week basis. The Attendance Team would like to politely remind parents/carers to book all appointments for this child/children outside of school hours. If there is an urgent appointment within school hours, please send any supporting evidence (for example a hospital letter) to pupil_absence@lampton.org.uk

 

Sixth Form Open Evening

The Sixth Form team looks forward to welcoming students in Y11 and their parents/ carers to the Sixth Form Open evening on Thursday 17th November at 18.00.  This is a fantastic opportunity to find out more about life in Lampton Sixth Form and the opportunities we offer.  There will be a presentation in the main hall, starting at 18.00 promptly, followed by a subject exhibition where students will have a chance to investigate the subjects on offer and speak with staff and students.  We hope this will allow students to make informed decisions about their post-16 pathways.  The application form will open after this event with interviews taking place during the Spring term.

 

Safeguarding briefing: Coerced online child sex abuse

In a recent survey, over a quarter of girls reported that they have had some kind of experience of requesting a nude or semi-nude photos or videos. Children can be groomed, coerced or encouraged into sexual activities online. This is known as self-generated child sexual abuse content, or first person produced images and videos. It’s where sexual images or videos of children are captured via a webcam or camera-enabled device. There is no physical presence of the abuser and the child is often in their own bedroom or bathroom. Whilst these images can be the product of grooming, blackmail and coercion, they could have also been originally voluntarily produced by the child, but then shared with others without the child’s full knowledge or consent. Any child with unsupervised access to the internet is potentially at risk.

 

As a parent, it's important to be aware of the risks that your children face when online - so that steps can be taken to protect them. For more information, see this guide from the UK Safer Internet Centre.  If you have any concerns about students or would like further information or support, please do contact the Safeguarding team safeguarding@lampton.org.uk.