LHS Mini Guide Sept 23

Longbenton High is a caring school

OFSTED, June 2022

Welcome

If you are looking for a school that will challenge your child to achieve their very best and support them to grow into the happiest, best version of themselves that they can be, then Longbenton High School is your school of choice.

We are a highly aspirational, truly comprehensive 11-18 secondary school of around 1,000 students. The school building is bright and modern; a new build was completed in 2016. Since I became headteacher here in 2020, it has been my aim to transform this school and I am proud to say we have done so. We were graded Good in our 2022 Ofsted inspection and we are an increasingly popular school; we were heavily oversubscribed in September 2023.

We have an expanded pastoral team - with new non teaching Pastoral Managers attached to each year group of 180 students - and we pride ourselves on getting to know every individual.

I would be delighted if you and your child chose to join us on your secondary school journey and joined our community of #LHS Legends.

Kelly Holbrook Headteacher

Why choose our school?

The school we are building together is based on our ‘KIDMAP’ values of kindness, integrity, determination, manners, ambition and positivity.

Longbenton is a caring school and we know our students well. We have a warm/strict approach and focus heavily on ambitious, high standards of behaviour.

Routines are a key element: this leads to a calm, positive atmosphere and climate. Our vertical House system - alongside year based form groups - helps us to develop a real sense of community.

We have a thriving school culture, with groups such as our LHS Equalities Team driving positive change around diversity and inclusion. Our school is about creating opportunities, instilling confidence and building the foundations for success.

91% of parents say their child is happy at this school

We understand moving school can be stressful and aim to make this as smooth and as positive as possible. Students start coming to us through our transition programme when they are in Year 5 for regular curriculum visits including a Year 5 Sports Day; Year 6 students have access to our Inspire extra curricular programme from the summer term.

New Year 7 students start in September before any other year group and are placed into a split lunch system where they are buddied up with Year 8 only. Specific transition support also comes in the form of a reading and oracy strategy which places focus on developing these skills with additional curriculum time in Year 7 and 8.

OFSTED, Parent survey 2022

Curriculum

At Longbenton High School, we use a traditional 3-year KS3 and a 2-year KS4 model. Whilst our curriculum is traditional, all areas of learning thrive and are valued. Most ‘English Baccalaureate’ subjects have high rates of entry, but so too do Art, Music, Drama, PE and Business. Students choose two additional option subjects at GCSE outside of the core curriculum. We offer Spanish and French as languages and students can study additional Further Maths at GCSE if they are gifted in that area, as well as subjects such as Computer Science.

Our focus on reading and oracy ensures we can deliver real cultural capital and remove social mobility barriers connected to literacy, to guarantee our students can compete with peers from all schools including the private sector for jobs, apprenticeships and university places. Students are expected to read for 10 minutes at school each day during form time.

Enrichment and extracurricular offer

We believe wider curriculum opportunities are crucial for student development and aim to deliver a high quality before and after school enrichment offer to cater for a broad range of interests and talents.

Our ‘Inspire’ curriculum allows students to gain experience and skills in areas that might not be part of the everyday curriculum, develop personal skills and attributes, make new friendships and become a real part of our school community.

There is an expectation that students will attend a minimum of one session until 4pm per week with clubs ranging from Lego to choir, animal care to Latin and everything in between. We open this offer up to incoming year 6 students in the summer term.

We also offer peripatetic music tuition, including LAMDA drama lessons and the EPQ qualification in sixth form.

Leaders have worked hard to strengthen pupils' development OFSTED, June 2022

Sixth Form

We pride ourselves on our well established Sixth Form in which we have a fantastic common room and study area just for Year 12-13. We have excellent retention and destinations data - almost 90% went on to university in 2023 and 100% secured either a university place, apprenticeship or employment. Students go on to Oxbridge and Russell Group universities.

Longbenton High School is also proud to be the only local Sixth form in the area to offer a BTEC Medical Sciences course - a qualification which supports progression to a range of job roles within health care and life sciences - and A Level Computer Science. These are 2/4 of the fastest growing work sectors in the North East and will open up numerous opportunities for students who wish to pursue careers in these fields.

Admissions

In the past your child may have been guaranteed a place; we are now increasingly popular and were heavily oversubscribed in 2023. We recommend that you allocate Longbenton High School as your first choice school to ensure the best chance of a place next September.

We hold a welcome event for new parents and families as soon as places are allocated in March each year and begin the roll out of a high quality transition programme.

Our admissions authority is North Tyneside. Apply online by October 31st at my.northtyneside.gov.uk/category/219/ online-school-applications

Leaders have strengthened the curriculum and made sure it is ambitious.

OFSTED, June 2022