Letter to Parents and Carers, Year 7

Dear Parents/Carers

I hope that you and your families are all well and that you are excited about the prospect of your son/daughter embarking on their journey of secondary education with us at Longfield Academy. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the new Head of Anderson College and Vice Principal in charge of Behaviour, Standards and Welfare at Longfield Academy. I am genuinely excited about the prospect of working with all of the students and staff at the academy, and I will endeavour to raise standards of uniform, punctuality, attendance and behaviour to ensure that your son/daughter enjoys a very successful and positive learning experience at Longfield Academy.

So that we can offer the very best level of care and support to all students, we have a non-teaching team of Student Support Mentors who work to support the students on a day-to-day basis. 

Each of our colleges have their own Student Support Mentors who provide support for the students in their respective colleges. All pastoral matters are managed by each college’s Student Support Mentor, alongside your son’s/daughter’s form tutor. This year we are extending the range of supportive provision and interventions to ensure that students can maximise their true learning potential.

Pastoral Care and Support

The Student Support Mentors will run a range of different programmes and initiatives  for targeted students throughout the year to help them fulfil their learning potential. Please see the allocation of Student Support Mentors in the table below.

The Student Support Mentors, Family Liaison Officer and the Safeguarding Team are trained and qualified to deal with any child protection or welfare issues. It is paramount that we keep our young people safe, happy and engaged in their learning so that they are able to perform to their full potential.

The academy’s pastoral system enables specialist staff to support students with their attitudes to learning, behaviour, attendance, mental health and emotional well-being. We will be extending the range of different supportive provisions throughout the year to ensure that students who are facing difficulties at home or in the academy are offered the most appropriate form of supportive provision so that they achieve well in every aspect at Longfield Academy.

At Longfield Academy, we take the well-being of our students and staff very seriously. We endeavour to ensure that the systems that we have in place meet the needs of each of our students, whether or not they have an identified additional need. If there is ever an issue that you wish to discuss about your child’s education, the first point of contact is through your child’s form tutor. If you have any safeguarding concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Behaviour, Standards and Attitudes to Learning

To ensure that we are able to provide a world class learning experience for your son/daughter, there will be an even greater requirement for all students to demonstrate sensible and calm behaviour in lessons, and when moving around the academy. We expect our students to be excellent ambassadors when travelling to and from the academy and when in the local community.  In your role as parents/carers, we expect your full support with this.

The academy does not tolerate poor behaviour or any disruption to learning at any time. At Longfield Academy, we aim to create a culture where there is ‘Disruption-free learning’. This is so that our teaching staff can empower your son/daughter with inspirational and engaging lessons. Students must remember that the academy has very high standards for teaching and learning and that it will not accept any disruption to learning in classrooms or other teaching areas. Should any students fail to meet academy expectations in lessons, they will be given a warning and the opportunity to self-correct their behaviour and then, if there is no improvement, there will be sanctions imposed. This could include removal from a lesson and an after school detention, which is 60 minutes in duration. The academy will be running 60 minute centralised after school detentions on every day of the week; these detentions will be used as a deterrent for unacceptable behaviour. Parents/carers will always be given 24 hours’ notice should your son/daughter be given an after school detention. Should a student be issued with an after school detention, the relevant parent/carers will receive official notification via text message, this message will provide you with brief details about the incident and the sanction. Please ensure that you inform us if your contact details or phone numbers change so that we can update it on our system. Failure to attend an after school detention will result in a 90 minute Senior Leadership Team detention. 

Senior Leadership Team detentions are given for more serious offences/incidents of unacceptable behaviour that occur around the academy. These will be held on Fridays from 3.15-4.45pm, parents/carers will receive a letter via email with notice of their child’s Senior Leadership Team detention.

After school Detentions are on Monday to Friday from 3.15-4.15pm.

SLT Detentions are on Fridays at 3.15-4.15pm.

Attendance

The academy recognises that students with high levels of attendance are most likely to succeed and be happy at the academy. The academy encourages all students to attend every day, so that they will be able to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available and so that they can maximise their learning potential. The expectation is that students should achieve a minimum 95% attendance target. Should your son/daughter not be able to attend for any medical reason, then parents/carers should phone the academy prior to 8.00am on the day of absence. Medical evidence should be provided for any period of absence. For any students that require some adjustments to be made to help them in their learning, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Punctuality to the Academy

It is essential that your child arrives at the academy on time every day so that they have sufficient time to get to their tutor base and be sat down at their desk, ready to learn by 8.30am. Students should be on site by 8.25am every morning. If a student arrives at the academy after 8.25am, without a valid and legitimate reason, they will be marked as late and they will be given a 15 minute, ‘late’ detention at break time on that day.  If there is a valid and legitimate reason that must be confirmed via phone call from a parent/carer prior to their son/daughter arriving at the academy.

Failure to attend the break time late detention will result in a one hour after school detention the following day.

If a student arrives after 8.45am (without a legitimate reason) this impacts on their learning time and the student will be given an after school detention.

 It is essential that your child arrives at the academy on time every day.They should be in full and correct uniform, and that they have all their necessary equipment with them. 

Punctuality to lessons

Students must ensure that they are punctual to all lessons and when they move around the academy and must do so in a calm and sensible manner. The academy day allows for 5 minute ‘transition time’ in between lessons. This allows sufficient time for students to arrive at their next lesson on time regardless of where their lesson is located within the Academy building. If a student does arrive late for a lesson (without a legitimate reason), they will not be allowed to participate in the lesson, and they will be taken to the ‘Refocus room’ where the student will work in isolation for the remaining duration of that lesson. 

At Longfield Academy, we want to create a culture of  ‘Disruption Free learning’. It is vitally important that students are punctual to lessons so that they do not miss any crucial learning time and so that lessons are not disrupted by students arriving late. We are going to take a firm stance on punctuality to lessons this year as the consequence for a student arriving late to a lesson (without a legitimate reason) will be a 1 hour after-school detention which will be sat the following day. With 5 minutes of transition time built into the Academy day to allow students to get from one classroom to another- there should be no excuse for lateness. This strategy will help teach our students to take personal responsibility for their own self-management and it will place emphasis on the importance of learning time.

Late detentions are on Mondays to Fridays during break time (10:50-11:05am).

Uniform

Students in years 7-11 are expected to be of smart appearance and to wear the academy uniform on the way to and from the academy as well as during the day. By requiring students to wear the academy uniform, we hope to develop a sense of identity and loyalty to the community of which they are members and encourage them to take pride in their appearance. Full details of the academy uniform policy can be found on the Academy Uniform page.

Promoting Positive Behaviour

The academy recognises that praise and reward are always the most powerful of motivational tools. As such, all staff actively seek opportunities to praise and reward students for meeting the high expectations that we have of them. Staff are encouraged to praise and reward students, through both formal and informal opportunities. We will aim to recognise and reward students for displaying the following behaviours across our academy and within our community: 

The staff at Longfield Academy are committed and determined to achieve a high-quality learning experience for all students. We want to work with your full support to get the very best outcomes for your son/daughter. We want them to be happy, safe and fully engaged in their learning. If there is anything that you would like to discuss in greater detail about any of the above, then please do not hesitate to contact me at the academy.

We thank you for your ongoing and loyal support in the pastoral systems we employ in our attempts to make a world-class academy for all our young people.

Yours faithfully

Mr L Anderson

Vice Principal (Behaviour, Standards & Welfare)
Head of Anderson College