Linslade Prospectus 2016

LINSLADE

SCHOOL

PROSPECTUS 2016 – 2017

WELCOME FROM OUR YEAR 5 PUPILS Dear Year 4 pupils You are coming to Linslade! There are loads of opportunities for you to take and lots of fun learning coming your way!

Linslade is a happy and friendly environment. There are lots of teachers and even children to help you out, however, there is not much chance of you needing help because of all of the amazing resources there are to use.

Settling in is easy and, when you get the hang of it you shouldn’t have any problems. There are 29 rooms and all of them can be filled with fun. There is also a huge playground and a huge field.

You can do more varied activities here. At lunch every day, there will be a sign up telling you which key stage is going into lunch first.

This will change every week. Linslade is an amazing place and I look forward to seeing you in September.

RAAYAN BEG 5EW

...the teachers here are great and everyone is friendly.

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ON BEHALF OF ALL OF THE STUDENTS, STAFF AND GOVERNORS AT LINSLADE, WE WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME YOU TO OUR SCHOOL. At the time of writing, our new Year 5 pupils (along with other pupils new to the school in Years 6, 7 and 8) have been with us for just four weeks. During this time, they have settled in well and are really embracing the opportunities available to them at Linslade including the range of clubs, trips and sporting activities. Already, Year 5 pupils have performed at our ‘Welcome Assembly’ and have signed up for a trip to the Roald Dahl Centre.

At Linslade we pride ourselves on being more than just a school. A number of visitors remark upon the sense of community that exists here at Linslade. Our pupils invariably refer to ‘The Linslade Family’ as they talk about the spirit of partnership and support that exists here. Much of this stems from our status as a Values Education School, which provides a strong foundation upon which learning can build – both inside and outside of the classroom. We are also very strong believers in the power of ‘growth mindset’ to open up minds and establish a sense of belief that anything is possible if you aim high and really try. We were delighted when Ofsted identified the ways in which our school has moved forward in the past few years via a focus on high expectations and standards. We were even more pleased when the inspection team judged the school to be good in all areas.

We hope that by reading our prospectus, you will gain a sense of what learning at Linslade is all about. We realise you will have many questions in relation to choosing your child’s next school and hope that this booklet goes some way towards answering them. However no prospectus is the same as coming to see us in action and we would really like to encourage you to come along to visit us in order to experience life at Linslade first hand.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about our school, please do not hesitate to get in touch either by phone 01525 372640, in person or via email using our dedicated new intake email address newentry2017@linsladeac.co.uk With very best wishes.

KATE SMITH

ELAINE RABBITT

HEADTEACHER

CHAIR OF GOVERNORS

THE JOURNEY TO MIDDLE SCHOOL At Linslade, we appreciate that changing schools is both exciting and – in some respects – daunting. The journey from lower to middle school at the end of Year 4 may well be the biggest change the children (and their parents/ carers) will experience in their school life. The same can be said of the change of school at the end of Year 6.

Many children will be ready for the change, whilst others will be nervous. We understand this and work hard to promote close links with our partner lower schools in an effort to try to reduce any anxieties you and your child may have.

Once you have made the decision to join us at Linslade, we will write to you and your child at regular intervals in order to support you as you continue your journey to middle school. We have already opened up a dedicated email address for you to make contact in the event of any questions or concerns: newentry2017@linsladeac.co.uk Pupils will be invited to our two transfer days in July. We also have schemes such as ‘Footsteps’ to support any children who may be especially anxious about taking their next step.

The parents and carers of our prospective Year 5 pupils will be invited to an information evening in June, where they will receive a ‘Welcome Pack’ and have the opportunity to spend some time with their child’s new form tutor.

We will also invite you to a ‘Welcome Assembly’ at the end of the children’s first full week with us.

In the case of pupils joining us in other years, we will do all we can to make your transition as smooth as possible, including arranging taster mornings/days in order to help you to learn a little more about our school before you start in September. We will also invite you to come along to our two transition days.

I would recommend Linslade to people who are nervous about starting a new school because people will look after you and make you feel comfortable.

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All of the teachers are great as they help you understand what you are learning and are always there for you when you need them.

PASTOR AL CARE In June 2016, Ofsted judged Personal Development, Behaviour and Welfare at Linslade as good. Each pupil is allocated to a tutor group with a form tutor whose principal aim is to know the children and their families well.

Heads of Year are responsible for the academic and pastoral oversight of each year group. They stay with their year group for the two years of Key Stage 2, before handing over to a new Head of Year for Key Stage 3.

BUDDY BE FRIENDS: At Linslade we run a Buddy Be Friends scheme where some willing Year 8s have training in supporting younger pupils. The Year 5s are then given the opportunity to have a Buddy to help them settle into the school.

Other pupils joining us in different year groups are also offered a Buddy to help them as they find their feet with us.

THE LINK AND THE HUB - PLACES TO FEEL SAFE: The Link is a small private room that offers children and their families somewhere to meet with our pastoral staff and other visiting professionals. It is a welcoming and comfortable space.

The Hub is a larger interactive pastoral area where children can continue with school work and is also open at break times for pupils who need a calmer atmosphere.

MRS TAIT - CHILD, SCHOOL AND FAMILY LINK OFFICER: Mrs Tait provides the connection between home, school, pupils and outside agencies. She supports pupils by offering small group or 1:1 sessions. Parents and carers can contact Mrs Tait to arrange a meeting should they have any concerns about their child’s well-being.

YOUNG CARERS: We are very proud to have been among the very first schools to gain gold accreditation as a Young Carers’ School and to be part of the national media launch of the scheme. At Linslade we recognise the unique challenges Young Carers can face in their lives and are proactive in doing all we can to offer individual support according to each Young Carer’s own needs.

STAYING HEALTHY: We are fortunate to have a dedicated first aid room at Linslade. This is where our Lead First Aider, is on hand to provide first aid and advice with regard to health related issues. We also work very closely with members of the School Nursing Team who visit the school on a weekly basis to offer health related advice.

PREPARING PUPILS FOR THEIR NEXT STEPS: We are aware that, as a middle school, we are preparing our children to take the next step to upper school.

Although our pupils transfer, in the main to Cedars, we work closely with both upper schools in the town in order to ensure a smooth transition at the end of Year 8.

Linslade is a lovely school. It might seem big, but you’ll get used to it.

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OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY Linslade School is a ‘Values Education School’. Each month we focus on a different value in assemblies, tutor time and lessons in order to support our aim of building a community where everyone is respected and valued. Values points are given for outstanding effort, excellent work and positive involvement in the life of the school. Each week all tutor groups nominate a ‘Values Champion’. These nominations are then taken forward to our weekly ‘Celebration Assembly’ where they are entered into a draw for ‘Values Champion of the Week’.

OUR HOUSE SYSTEM: Each pupil and member of staff is allocated to one of our four houses.

BASSETT

NORTON

SALUSBURY

LEIGHTON

Each house is led by a House Leader who works together with our House Captains to organise competitions and charity fund raising events. Sports Day is our very popular inter-house competition, to which families and friends of the school are invited.

CHARITY FUND RAISING: We also come together as a school to raise money for local and national charities. Last year, for the fourth year running, we filled the minibus with food for our local foodbank, and raised in excess of £5000 which was split between, Children in Need, Sports Relief, Cancer Research UK and fund-raising for our own school library.

SCHOOL COUNCIL: Our School Council meets weekly and is involved in discussing key aspects of school life. More recently our School Council members have been working towards improving lunchtimes for pupils and reviewing our Anti Bullying Policy.

They also play an important part in the interview process for new staff joining the school and have been to governors’ meetings to discuss aspects of teaching and learning YEAR 8 LEADERS: Almost all of our Year 8 pupils are involved in some form of leadership. Each year, our Year 8 leaders receive training for roles such as guides, sports leaders, art leaders, drama leaders and acting as ambassadors for our school.

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You learn lots of new and interesting things every day.

LEARNING AT LINSLADE Our curriculum is broad and balanced. There is a clear focus on the core subjects of English, maths and science, with opportunities for pupils to explore the arts, humanities, modern languages, technology and sport. The school week is divided into 25 x 1 hour lessons and, at the start of this year we introduced a two week timetable. The aim behind this is to allow a more even distribution of the core subjects across all four year groups.

THEMED DAYS: We also organise a series of themed days during the year. More recently these have included our Festivals Project at Christmas, our ‘Academic Challenge Days’ and our ‘Live N Learn Days’.

ACTIVITIES WEEK: July 2013 saw our first ‘Activities Week’ when we abandoned our normal timetable to learn in a way that was active and challenging. The feedback we received was so good, we decided to do it all again in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

In 2016 we welcomed visitors into school, our hall became the location of a scene of crime as Year 8 experienced what it is like to be forensic scientists and pupils visited locations such as Green Park, Woburn, Condover Hall and London; all in spirit of learning in a different way. Feedback from this year was so positive, we have already started planning events for 2017!

SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS EDUCATION: This is currently delivered jointly within science and PSHE lessons. Parents/carers may remove their child from sex education and should contact the Headteacher in writing should they wish to do so. We also offer families the opportunity to come along to our ‘Growing Pains Evening’ where we look together at some of the questions children and adults have when talking about how we (and our bodies) change as adolescence approaches.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: This is an important subject at Linslade again, parents/carers have the right to withdraw their children from Religious Education and Collective Worship. Please contact the Headteacher in writing should you wish to do so.

At Christmas we performed at Westminster Cathedral. It was an amazing experience.

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We have just found out that Ofsted think our school is good. Personally, I think it is outstanding.

SUPPORTING LEARNING LEARNING SUPPORT AT LINSLADE At Linslade we recognise that all pupils need support from time to time. The reasons for this can be linked to educational problems, behavioural or emotional needs, prolonged illness or health problems, difficulties in learning and remembering, or other causes. Such needs might be short-term or very specific. For others the problem is more long-term (e.g. having sight difficulties or finding it hard to keep new things in their mind long enough to write down or discuss).

Miss Morgan Ellis is our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo). She works together with a team of Teaching Assistants, Learning Mentors, class teachers and external agencies to make sure that our pupils have the best possible opportunities to succeed. Our Learning Support Team will be liaising closely with feeder lower schools to ensure as smooth a transition for our new pupils as possible.

PUPIL PREMIUM AND YEAR 7 CATCH UP PREMIUM: This additional funding is used at Linslade to ensure we narrow the gap between ‘disadvantaged’ pupils and their peers. Our aim is to maximise the impact of this funding in order to allow all of our pupils the opportunity to participate, learn and achieve excellence. We do all we can to work closely with learners and their families to ensure this support is tailored to individual needs and circumstances.

BRIGHT AND ABLE PUPILS Approximately 10% of pupils at Linslade may be identified as High Level Achievers who are ‘bright’ or ‘able’ in one of several ways: • they may be strong in all or most subjects taught • they may be outstanding in a number of areas in and beyond the curriculum • they may have special abilities in specific areas (notably, though not exclusively, in the arts, sports or music).

Where possible we try to provide a wide range of opportunities for these pupils.These include such features as: • • • • •

visits (to or from the school) demonstrations, master classes, or links with the upper schools/other institutions extra-curricular opportunities e.g. specific clubs or projects activities that feature such talents as sports, performances, arts, mathematical, linguistic and creative skills extended work that allows pupils to access higher levels, challenge and attainment in the classroom.

We currently have a number of pupils who compete in sport at county and national level. A number of our pupils also take part in theatre and dance productions out of school. Last year 13 of our Year 8 students went on to achieve their Bronze Arts Award.

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If you are coming to Linslade School, you are coming to the best school ever!

OUR FACILITIES WE ARE VERY PROUD OF OUR FACILITIES AND SPECIALIST ROOMS, WHICH INCLUDE: • Two Science Laboratories • A Design & Technology Workshop • A Food Technology Room • A Textiles Room • A Performing Arts Studio • A newly refurbished Art Studio • Two ICT Suites • A Music Room equipped with keyboards and facilities for recording work • Extensive Sports Fields, Netball and Tennis Courts We are also in the process of planning for the renovation of our library to make it fit for purpose for learning in the 21st century. We hope you will take time to look at our plans as we bring this on stream.

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My greatest achievement was when I was invited to the Arts Evening to perform the witches from ‘Macbeth’.

LEARNING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM Linslade is an inclusive school that aims to offer a range of different clubs and activities to support and challenge our pupils beyond the classroom.

CLUBS: We have an impressive range of clubs, among them; photography club, cheer-leading club, robotics, British Sign Language club, art club, homework club, dance club, cookery club, choir, ukulele club and engineering club.

SPORT: Extra-curricular sport is very important to us at Linslade and we are proud to be a Gold Sports Award School.

We offer different sporting opportunities among them football, girls’ and boys’ rugby, netball, hockey, table tennis, dance, cricket and dodgeball. Our 10+ sports clubs take place before school, at lunchtime and after school.

Active Play, led by our team of Young Leaders, is especially popular among pupils in Key Stage 2.

COMPETITIONS: We play in a range of competitions and regularly reach County Finals. Last year we brought home no fewer than 8 County titles and were winners of the District Athletics for the eighth year running.

TRIPS AND VISITS: In 2015 – 16 Linslade pupils visited many different places and experienced a range of new challenges.

These included: • • • • • • • • •

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A Year 7 residential visit to Condover Hall in Shropshire Our annual Year 6 summer camp to the Isle of Wight Year 6 day trip to Green Park Year 5 visit to Woburn Year 8 visit to London Theatre productions including: A Christmas Carol A Key Stage 3 visit to The Globe to see ‘Macbeth’ Everyone going to church at Christmas to celebrate the season through music and readings Our choir also sang at the Barnardos Christmas carol service at Westminster Cathedral in London and at the Bedfordshire Fire Service Christmas Carol Service in Woburn Church.

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THE ARTS: Pupils have the opportunity to take part in a range of arts based activities. Most individual music lessons are available via ‘Inspiring Music’. We currently offer a series of musical groups including recorder group, orchestral group, singing, beginners’ brass and guitar group.

There are opportunities to take part in samba bands and it is our aim to make sure that all pupils are able to read music and master basic keyboard skills in the time they are with us.

Our school productions in the recent past have included ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicoloured Dreamcoat’, ‘Bugsy Malone’, ‘CATS’, ‘Honk’ and ‘Lion King Junior’ We are also very proud of our highly acclaimed ‘Talent Show’ performed each June to a packed auditorium.

In July 2016, we presented our second annual arts exhibition, which included work from pupils in all year groups and across all of the arts; music, drama, dance and art. The standard was impressive and generated an incredible reaction from the people fortunate enough to visit.

WORKING WITH FAMILIES The transition from lower to middle school can be an anxious time for parents and carers as well as for their children. The years a pupil spends at middle school form a period when tremendous changes occur, physically, emotionally, socially as well as academically. As a school, we welcome the contribution families are able to make to ensuring we provide a learning experience that is truly memorable for our children. There are a number of ways you can get involved: • • • • •

As a school governor As a member of the Linslade School, Parents, Teachers and Friends Association Volunteering to help with reading or to act as additional adult supervision on trips Attending sports fixtures, musical and dramatic performances Participating in a range of workshops e.g. our successful ‘Growing Pains Evening’, ‘It’s Tough being a Teenager Evening’, our SATs workshops and our workshops to support literacy and numeracy • Taking part in our termly ‘Parents’ Forum’ where you have an opportunity to contribute your ideas to key aspects of our work.

WRAP AROUND CARE: Our normal school day is from 8.45 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. However a number of pupils arrive at school earlier than this to take part in before school clubs or to enjoy breakfast at ‘Early Birds’. ‘Early Birds’ opens at 8.00 a.m. and offers a range of breakfast snacks and beverages; all for the reasonable price of £1.50 per day.

There is no need to book and everyone who would like to come along is very welcome.

BLUEBELLS AFTER SCHOOL CLUB: Bluebells offers after school care until 6.00 p.m. Based in the school’s dining room, Bluebells provides a safe and enjoyable environment for pupils who are not able to go straight home from school.

Further details can be obtained through the school or by contacting Bluebells direct on: 07593 952769.

VISITS TO THE SCHOOL: We are always happy to welcome visitors to our school and have scheduled a week of open mornings for the week beginning 14 November to allow you to come and see us during the course of a normal school day.

Should you wish to visit us at other times, please contact the school to arrange an appointment.

We will be delighted to show you around.

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LINSLADE

SCHOOL

Mentmore Road, Linslade, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 2PA TEL: 01525 372 640 FAX: 01525 851 437 E-MAIL: contact@linsladeac.co.uk WEB: www.linsladeac.co.uk Linslade Academy Trust. A charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales with company number 07621395.