13 September 2013 Dear Parents / Carers I am writing to welcome everyone back after the summer holiday. We have returned after one of our better summers in terms of weather and one of our best ever for Wellfield’s GSCE results. We achieved 48% 5 A*-C including English and Maths, an increase of 17%. This will make us one of the most improved schools in Lancashire and is a clear sign that we have made significant improvements as a school in a short space of time. I know that the systems and procedures we have put in place over the last 18 months are improving the school and I know from a parent point of view that we will continue to do so in the future. There are no quick fixes and the staff will continue to work incredibly hard to ensure our students achievements continue to improve through increasing the outstanding learning opportunities at Wellfield. Uniform: As the students returned this week it was great to see them looking so smart in their uniforms. The uniform is not changing during the next 6 months so if it needs replacing in the future, please replace as you normally would. There is no news from the Department for Education about our Academy status as yet and so we are proudly continuing as Wellfield at present. I would like to thank parents this term for ensuring our students are in the correct uniform and ready to learn. Phone Zone: Parents will be aware that students are allowed to use their mobile phones responsibly in school at break and lunchtimes. To support this further we have limited the areas where students can use their mobile phones to three Phone Zones around the school. These have been identified with form tutors and their form groups at the start of this week. Senior Prefects: Head Boy – Caan Baybutt, Head Girl – Rosa Bowe (both 11 Pendle). Deputy Head Boy – Duncan McCormick (11 Rivington), Deputy Head Girl – Annabel Jennings (11 Anglezarke) Other Year 11 students appointed as Senior Prefects are: Amy Bevan, Gerad Carter, Sophie Charleston, Ethan Chetwynd, Leah Johnston and Yazzmin McCarthy House System: To strengthen the House system across Wellfield, form tutor groups have changed their names to reflect their houses not their form tutor, e.g. 7A = 7 Anglezarke, P = Pendle, R = Rivington and W =Winter Hill. This week Heads of House have been appointed from our Senior Prefects: Anglezarke – Emily Baines Pendle – Emily Ingham Rivington – Ben Alami Winter Hill – Maddie Hinds Home Based Learning: Parents will be able to monitor Home Based Learning activities more closely this year through the introduction of a system called Show My Homework. All parents will be able to log in to see their child’s Home Based Learning via a link on our website in the ‘Parents’ section. We hope that this will assist parents in supporting their child’s Home Based Learning. Letters containing log-in details for parents were sent out on Monday and for students yesterday. The company who provide this software are in the process of developing an App for mobile phones/devices (expected January 2014). If you have any problems logging onto the system or have any feedback please contact the school office or email for the attention of HBL and we will try and deal with it swiftly. This system does not replace our Student Planners which students will still use to record their HBL in and organise themselves for their learning. As always, we ask you to contribute £2.50 towards the cost of the planners. Cont’d …/
Cont’d …/2 Student Support - Pastoral Team: Should you have any concerns about your child/children your first contact should be their Pastoral Manager: Year 7 and 8 – Mrs Yates Year 9 and 10 – Mr Adams Year 11 – Mr Bowe If you have a concern or query that is specifically about a subject then please contact the subject teacher at school. A full staff list and structure is available on our website in the Staff and Governors area. Parents can also use the online INSIGHT reporting system to support their child’s learning at Wellfield. New logins for Year 7 parents will be issued shortly and also for new students in other years. If you have lost your login details please contact our school office and they will organise for these to be sent out to you. Further Support: In order to try and support parents in expressing their concerns regarding their child’s progress, we would like to direct any communication via email to a central point for each Key Stage that a child is in. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s studies which you would like to bring to our attention please email us in the first instance as follows: Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 to
[email protected] Students in Years 10 and 11 to
[email protected] These will be forwarded to Mr Brecken and the Progress Managers for the relevant Key Stage (Mrs Burke, KS3 and Miss Sumner, KS4). In turn they will either directly respond or forward onto the relevant subject leader/teacher as appropriate. However, whilst we are aware that this may be a convenient method of contact for many parents, please feel free to phone us as well. New Staff: We also welcome new staff this year: Mrs Dudley – French; Mr Sturgeon – Maths; Miss Snowden and Mrs Ifzal – English and Mr Hayhurst – Learning Support. Open Evening: Our Open Evening for prospective new students is on Monday 23 September between 6 – 8.30p.m. The school will close early at 1.30 p.m. to students to enable us to prepare for the evening. I have asked for as many students as possible to volunteer to act as guides and helpers in subjects. Letters have been sent out with students this week by Mrs Yates, Pastoral Manager for Year 7, who will shortly send out details of the times they are required. Dates for the diary (Holiday dates on website): Open Evening (School closes early at 1.30 p.m.) Friends of Wellfield Bingo - Leyland RAF Club £1 entry. Year 7 Parents Evening Friends of Wellfield Autumn Fayre Year 11 Parents Evening Year 10 Parents Evening Year 9 Parents Evening Year 8 Parents Evening Year 7 Parents Evening - 2
6 – 8.30 p.m. Monday 23 September 2013 7.15pm – 9.15 p.m. Friday 4 October 2013 5.00 – 6.30 p.m. Tuesday 15 October 2013 Saturday 19 October 2013 4.30 – 7.00 p.m. Thursday 28 November 2013 4.30 – 7.00 p.m. Thursday 16 January 2014 4.30 – 7.00 p.m. Thursday 6 February 2014 4.30 – 7.00 .pm. Thursday 27 February 2014 4.30 – 7.00 p.m. Thursday 20 March 2014
I look forward to a really exciting year ahead for Wellfield and thank all parents in advance for their support. Yours sincerely
Mr P Tolson Headteacher
