News

Dear Families,

We’ve made it! Welcome to the end of what has undoubtedly been a very challenging half term for everyone. The impact of the lockdown restrictions have been hardened further by the cold, wet weather and the short, dark days, but as we now move into the half term break I think we can say with some confidence that there is light at the end of the tunnel. My key message for you this week is about the importance of switching off from screen life for the holiday as far as you are able to do so. I would strongly urge families to encourage your sons and daughters to give the screens a break over the half term break and be more active than the enforced lifestyle of the last 6 weeks has allowed. It is really important for our mental wellbeing that we remain physically active, and with students not having enjoyed the usual run around periods of break and lunchtimes with their friends at school it is more important than ever that students are active next week. There are a number of things to make you aware of to round off the half term.

Year 11 and 13 exams update
The update on the Year 11 and 13 exams is that as yet there is no update. The outcome from the consultation is expected sometime between the middle and end of February but at the time of writing I am not able to give you any further information as to how the Teacher Assessed Grades for those year groups are going to be generated. I have been very impressed with the way that year 11 and 13 students have continued to work throughout the lockdown period and your levels of engagement and attendance to live lessons has been superb. I would just like to reassure you once again that when the outcome from the consultation is known we will do out very best to ensure that the grades awarded are a fair reflection of the work that the students have put in.

Assessment fortnight
We will be running an assessment fortnight after half term beginning in the week of 22nd February.  This will involve all year groups except for Years 11 and 13 who will have trial exams at some point after the school has reopened.  Details of these will follow once we have had confirmation about how and when schools will re-open. The assessments will be conducted during the live lessons and teachers will be giving their classes advance notice on which period this will take place in.  These assessments will help us with future planning during lockdown and allow us to re-visit any misconceptions during the 1st half term.  We ask that students work independently during their assessment so the results give an accurate reflection of learning during lockdown.

Screen Free Friday
Last Friday saw our first ‘Screen free’ day and I would like to say a big thank you to all families who sent in photos of the wonderful range of activities that your sons and daughters got up to on that day. From historical walks, to painting, baking, sculpting there was a fantastic array of creativity on display. The attached ‘weekly update’ document takes you to some photos of the wonderful range of activities. Well done to everyone who used the day to get active and do something different.

GCSE Pod – 10,000 downloads!
Congratulations to our Year 10 and 11 students who have this week clocked up 10,000 video downloads during the lockdown period prompting GCSE Pod to send us a certificate which I have attached to this email. Well done to all of our students who have been making use of this fantastic resource, and if you have not yet logged on to see what it has to offer I would encourage you to do so after the half term break. GCSE Pod has resources for nearly every GCSE subject and every exam board.

Oak Academy – data free for students
The Oak National Academy is a collection of high quality online learning resources for all key stages from early years to GCSE. This site is now data free on mobile. All major mobile networks have made the site “zero-rated”, meaning any family can access its lessons without any data charges or using any data limits, when accessed on a mobile. 

Engagement with Remote Learning Prize Draw
A significant number of students have recently received a certificate congratulating them on their fantastic levels of engagement with remote learning following feedback from teachers on how well students have been getting on. To recognise these achievements all students with excellent engagement ratings were entered into a prize draw to win some Amazon vouchers and prizes were awarded for each year group. You can watch Mr Ridley conduct the prize draw to see who won in each year group by clicking the link below. Congratulations to all our winners.
 Live Draw.mp4

National Careers week 1st-6th March
1st-6th March is this year’s National Careers Week and to mark this event we are holding a ‘Plan Your Future Day’ on Wednesday 3rd March. On this day normal live lessons will be suspended and there will instead be a series of virtual workshops and activities led by employers. This will be an event for all year groups with the programme for the day being tailored to the needs of each year group. You will receive further details about the day in due course.

Free School Meals
Families who are entitled to Free School meals will receive vouchers for the half term break shortly, if you have not already done so. As ever if there are any problems with receiving your FSM vouchers then please contact our Assistant Headteacher, Ms Siddell at asiddell@lpsb.org.uk

Key worker and vulnerable students provision
As I noted last week the school is closed to all students next week so there will not be any on-site provision for key worker or vulnerable students. This is to enable all staff to have a good break and a much needed rest. Our key worker/vulnerable provision will resume on Monday 22nd February and as is the case now students should be onsite by 8:30am. Please let us know if your sons / daughters will be attending using the office email address. office@lpsb.org.uk

Lockdown Virtual Exhibition of Outstanding Student Work
The link below takes you to our fantastic virtual exhibition which showcases some of the fantastic work that students across many subjects have done over the course of the last half term. You may not be able to physically walk through a gallery at the moment, but this is definitely the next best thing, so enjoy your virtual tour. Many thanks to Mr Herbert and the Art Team for putting this together.
https://www.artsteps.com/view/601be6681e0bc050ded9815c

Weekly sports update
The PE department as ever have been keeping our students active with a variety of challenges, and the results / summary of this week’s activities can be found in the ‘weekly update’ document attached to this email. Many thanks to the PE Team for keeping the sporting fires burning during this period of lockdown. Hopefully it’s not too long before we are able to play together once again.

KS3 Drama and Dance Competition – ‘Attitude to Learning’ Week 5 Results 
Attached are the results for top students of week 5 for the ‘Attitude to Learning’ Competition for Drama and Dance. Students have completed incredible assessment work for both departments and we would like to say a massive thank you for your son’s engagement and hard work. After half term, data will be collated to award students with Amazon vouchers and certificates home. We cannot wait to see who are winners will be! 
Results are posted weekly on the following social media platforms: 
Instagram: @langley_park_school_for_boys @lpsb_dance @lpsb_drama (Please check Direct Messages to confirm connection to LPSB). 
Facebook: Langley Park School for Boys 
Twitter: @LPSBNews

Wellbeing over half term
As we move through this wave of the pandemic, people will be affected differently and you may have a variety of concerns about the impact the virus has had on yourself, and directly or indirectly, on your wider family and friends, particularly if you also have caring responsibilities.  It is more important than ever to be kind to yourself, to set aside time to look after yourself, and stay connected with others.  Attached are some resources and ideas that may help you in taking care of your mental wellbeing as we continue through this pandemic, especially during this cold, winter spell.  Some of these tips may work for different people at different times, some may not work at all for others. Try not to put too much pressure on yourself if trying something doesn't feel possible right now.  Each day is a new day.

Communication over half term
I do not intend to write to you during the half term break unless there is a significant development that requires urgent attention. We are expecting an announcement from the Prime Minister on Monday 22nd February about the way forward and out of lockdown, so I will write to you again at the start of the next half term once this announcement has been made and we have had a chance to firm up our plans on how we move forward. 

I have tended to finish many of my weekly emails with a special mention of thanks to various groups of people who have played such an important part in keeping our students engaged and motivated over the last 6 weeks of lockdown. This has included the Cover Coaches and the Teaching Assistants for their ongoing supervision of our on-site provision, the staff who have supported the running of our on-site Covid Test Centre, the teachers who have adapted so quickly and effectively to the expectations and challenges of delivering live remote lessons, and to the students for their ongoing hard work, dedication and commitment in the face of adversity. My final mention of thanks for the half term goes to you, the parents, carers and families who have supported your sons and daughters throughout this period of lockdown. I can only imagine how difficult it is to manage your own busy lives, often working full time jobs, whilst also trying to support and encourage your children to stay focused and keep up with their studies. A number of parents/carers have had to manage this whilst experiencing friends or loved ones who have unfortunately been lost to Covid over the months, and the pressure to try to remain positive for your children has been immense. Your support of me and the school over this period of time has been incredibly heart-warming. You have shown immense gratitude when things are going well, and fantastic understanding when things have not been perfect. I have never felt so proud to be part of the Langley Family. I know for many of you the jobs won’t stop next week, but I sincerely hope you all manage to get at least a bit of a rest. You thoroughly deserve it.

Have a fantastic half term break. Time to log off…

Best wishes

Mr S. Parsons
Headteacher
Langley Park School for Boys

Weekly-Update-12th-Feb-2021.pdf

ATL-Week-5.pdfHow-to-look-after-your-mental-health.pdf10-000-Pods-reached.pdf