Littlehampton Community School: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 22:21, 17 March 2008
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| Littlehampton Community School | |
|---|---|
| LCS Logo.png | |
| Address | |
 | |
Hill Road , | |
| Information | |
| Type | Comprehensive |
| Headteacher | Jayne Wilson |
| Teaching staff | 125 |
| Number of students | 1822 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Years | Y7-11 (School) Y12-13/14 (College) |
| LEA | West Sussex |
| Age Range | 11 to 19 |
| Website | http://www.littlehampton.w-sussex.sch.uk/ |
Littlehampton Community School is located at the edge of Littlehampton, in West Sussex, England, and is the main secondary school in the Littlehampton area. It is surrounded by housing and provides easy access for the children around the area. It is one of the largest secondary schools in West Sussex.
Description
Littlehampton Community School (often abbreviated to simply 'LCS') is a large, mixed-gender comprehensive school. The school achieved a 'satisfactory' grading in their November 2004 Ofsted inspection [1], with the result of a subsequent inspection in February 2008 being expected imminently. A split campus site, the school has various specialist teaching rooms for subjects such as Food Technology and Science. The school also has several designated ICT suites, the largest of which being 'The Ramshack', a suite of 50 computers that was originally opened by Des Lynam in 1998.
Student Organisation
In recent years, the school has left it's historical house system in favour of a year-based system. The house system involved students being sorted into one of five houses (all named after hills located in West Sussex; Amberley, Bignor, Chantry, Highdown and Rackham). In contrast to this, students are now sorted into one of three 'learning teams' (all named after species of trees; Larch (Red), Chestnut (Yellow) and Sycamore (Blue), (the initials subsequently spelling 'LCS')). The main change in the new system is the establishment of five 'Head of Year' posts. The current 'year' structure is in full operation in years seven, eight, nine and ten, with year eleven only on a partial 'year' system. This difference is due to the fact that the current year eleven began their school life in the house system, and it was therefore decided that original tutor groups would remain, and they would randomly be split into three unnamed teams. The current organisation is shown in the table below.
| × | Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10 | Year 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head of Year | Ms S. Lys | Mrs J. Geddes | Mrs. J. Lockett | Mrs T. Burelli |
Mr G. Hampson |
| Head of Larch | Mr J. Collett | Shared by Mr K. Stone and Ms D. Heron |
Ms H. Matthews |
Mr R. Josephs |
Ms J. Hockley |
| Head of Chestnut | Ms P. McMann | Mr K. Stone | Ms S. Hurley | Ms R. White | Mrs J. Ayling |
| Head of Sycamore | Ms S. Lys | Ms D. Heron | Ms K. Silverson | Shared by Mr R. Josephs and Ms R. White |
Mr C. Langan |
The current uniform is strongly based on the learning teams system, with students wearing sweatshirts and polo shirts in their own team colour (Larch - Red; Chestnut - Yellow; Sycamore - Blue). In addition to this, all students are required to wear smart black trousers and shoes.
Management Team
Due to the large number of students, the school's management team currently consists of 13 members of staff, many with specific responsibilities. The current senior management team is as follows:
- Jayne Wilson - Headteacher
- Sarah Pringle - Deputy Headteacher (Teaching and Learning)
- Heather Ward - Deputy Headteacher (Student Welfare)
- Geoff Davis - Deputy Headteacher (Specialist School Status)
- Nigel Warr - Assistant Headteacher (Data and Information)
- Shaun Allison - Assistant Headteacher (Staff Development)
- Jane Ratclife - Assistant Headteacher (14-19 Learning)
- Heather Burles - Assistant Headteacher (Student Services)
- Peter Mantin - Assistant Headteacher (Literacy)
- Duncan Jack - Assistant Headteacher (AFL)
- Sarah Welsh - Assistant Headteacher (Numeracy)
- Sue Gwinnel-Smith - Assistant Headteacher (BfL)
- Patty Harris - Business Manager
Structure of the Day
08.00 - Breakfast Club
08.30 - Registration/Assembly
08.45 - Period 1
09.45 - Period 2
10.45 - Break
11.00 - Period 3
12.00 - Period 4
13.00 - Lunch
13.40 - Registration
13.45 - Period 5
14.45 - End of Lessons
15.00 - Clubs/Meetings/Detentions
Business and Enterprise Status
In 2003, the school successfully applied to become a Business and Enterprise specialist school. Much of the money that was required was donated by Anita Roddick, the then owner of The Body Shop. As a result of this donation, a new building that was built with this money was named 'The Roddick Enterprise Centre' (normally abbreviated to 'REC').
To help develop Business and Enterprise amongst students, all must participate in the annual 'Business and Enterprise Week', held towards the end of the academic year in July. In addition to this, all Year 9 students must choose a 'business-related' option to study at GCSE, these include ICT, Media Studies, Leisure & Tourism or Business Studies.
The successful installation of Business and Enterprise specialism has meant that the school now often enters teams into national competitions. Some are run within the school and others compete against other schools. The most successful being their entry into the 2005 Yell Challenge which the school won, and as a result set up a new school radio station called "Revamp Radio". It launched on Tuesday 18th September 2006, with help from Arun District Council Chairman Stephen Haymes and kids TV presenter Dave Benson-Philips. [2]
The school successfully reapplied for, and was subsequently redesignated a Business and Enterprise specialist school in November 2007, following the completion of the schools original four year plan.
General Information and Recent Events
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (March 2008) |
- The school is officially recognised as a Dyslexia Friendly School.
- In 2007, 30% of students achieved 5 A*-C GCSE Grades including English and Maths, a three percent increase on 2006.
- On the last day of every academic year, students participate in the annual Athletics day. The 2007 Athletics Morning took place on Wednesday July 18 2007, and was won by the Chestnut learning team. The previous year it had been called off due to hot weather.
- The school often produce drama productions and talent shows, the most recent being a Christmas production, aptly named "Beau White and the seven Dwarves" and "The LCS Factor".
- In 1991, the entire library and science faculty had to be rebuilt following an arson attack on the school.
- In October 2007, a new maths block entitled 'Maths Village' (although it's a Hamlet) was opened, designed to provide a temporary replacement of the seventy year old maths department until the new academy is completed.
- The new building was raided by thieves during the Christmas holidays who stole a multimedia projector.[3]
- The school was forced to close to all students and staff on Wednesday 23 January 2008 following a gas leak on the campus. The leak was discovered by a cleaner, in Hill Road, and left two thirds of the school with no central heating. The school's critical incident team made the decision the night before. An A Level Biology exam went ahead as planned.[4] [5]
- The school set up CCTV in January outside toilets in the school in attempt to stop vandalism, these cameras do not film inside the toilets.
- The last Ofsted inspection took place on Wednesday 27th February and Thursday 28th February 2008. The results of this inspection are expected to be released in March 2008.
The Littlehampton College
The school has a separate sixth-form college building which is located within the school grounds, to the west of the main buildings. The college offers students a range of qualifications, including GCSE's and BTEC awards, however by far the most popular is the AS and A2 'A' Level. Most students attend the college for two years, however a limited number of students opt to stay on for a further year in order to attain additional qualifications.
The College is currently managed by John Fuller, Head of College. In addition, the day to day problems and issues are dealt with by College Co-Ordinator, Angie Gresty. The college was graded at a higher level than the actual school in the last OFSTED report, receiving a 'good' rating in contrast to the school's 'satisfactory'.
One of the main differences between this and other colleges in the area is the high level of integration that occurs amongst students of various backgrounds. The key to this integration is often argued to be the social events that occur throughout the academic year, including a Christmas Meal, Summer Ball, Quiz Night and Pizza and Bowling Night.
In line with the Business and Enterprise specialism of the main school, the college runs three Roddick Conference's through the year, again named after Dame Anita Roddick. The first of these conferences is entitled 'Suited and Booted'. This academic years event was held in December 2007, especially for boys, (female students had a conference last year instead) with a local tree surgeon as the keynote speaker. The day aimed to help and teach the male members of the college about skills needed in business.
The second conference, entitled 'One World' involves students attending three workshops of there choices, all of which have a relation to current issues, for example the keynote speaker Alan Chambers MBE an artic explorer. Another prominent workshop was West Sussex Fire and Rescue which delivered a hard hitting presentation on the dangers of drink driving. The day was very successful building on from elements of the previous One World Day's.
The final conference of the year takes the form of the college's Business and Enterprise Week project where students make a variety of films, before having a showcase, this conference is entitled 'Room 5 Film Festival'.
The college also democratically elects a College Committee at the start of every academic year. This committee is responsible for making student's feelings heard, improving the general college environment and organising the various social events.
College students also take great pride in helping students lower down in the school in events like 'The LCS Factor' as well as other drama department productions.
Overall, most students feel that the college is a superb place to study and learn in a relaxed adult environment, which is delivered excellently through the college teaching staff.
The Learn2Learn Centre
Formally known as 'The Bridge', the Learn2Learn Centre is a building based in the oldest part of the school. It was set up five years ago to help students with behavioral problems in the classroom. When a student is placed into the centre, they are set tasks in order to help control anger issues and behavior. Students that complete tasks successfully are rewarded with activity days. Initial findings show that the work from the centre has proved very successful.
The project has been widely criticised by students, parents, carers and the outside community due to the way that it is run. This is because the students are reguarly rewarded for doing work that they should actually be doing. The rewards have ranged from trips to Thorpe Park to day outings to activity centres. This has prompted anger with students as it is viewed to be unfair to those who work hard without making any problems.
A logo competition was held to design a new logo for the former 'Bridge', promoting the business and enterprise spirit. The old logo can still be seen at the bottom of letterheads and other school documents that go out to parents.
'Bully Busters'
Police in West Sussex teamed up with pupils in a bid to stamp out cyber-bullying among teenagers. The school put together a "Bully Buster" website, explaining what bullying is and giving victims advice on how to deal with it. Pupils can also report bullying concerns.
The website came as a government study revealed more than a third of 12 to 15-year-olds have faced some kind of bullying over the internet or via mobile phones.
The website was set up with the help of community support officer Bob Purcell, who wanted to raise awareness and educate pupils about the growing problem. He also works with pupils and their families to "soothe situations and prevent them from escalating".
The website and school have had praise from the police and many feeder schools about the project and also apared on the BBC South Today evening news program because of it.
Future Plans for Academy Status
The future of the school is currently unclear, largely due to the current plans to become an Academy School. These plans have caused discussions within the school, with some arguing for the plans, and some arguing against them.
Plans for an academy developed on October 2nd 2007, when the DCSF accepted the submitted 'expressions of interest', and asked LCS to develop a feasibility study, including the academy plans in much greater detail. The main sponsor of the proposed academy is Woodard Schools, who already operate schools in both the private and state sector, including Lancing College, also in West Sussex. Littlehampton would become one of three West Sussex Woodard academies, along with Kings Manor Community College and Boundstone Community College. Following the the death of the local entrepreneur Dame Anita Roddick, a friend of the school, it has been suggested that any future academy should be named in her memory.[6]
The school has recently held a series of consultation events with staff, students and parents, the first of which took place on Thursday 7th February 2008, in the Library. However, the event was very poorly attended, probably due to the fact that the National Union of Teachers also held a consultation evening on the proposed academies in the nearby town of Worthing. This NUT meeting was prompted after affiliated staff announced that they were "not impressed" by the way unwillingness of the Woodard Trust to discuss the plans with either staff or parents. They are also angry due to the fact that there are a number of issues which have not been addressed by Woodard or the senior management team within the school. [7]
The second, and better attended, consultation evening was held on Thursday 13 March at 7pm for parents and members of the local community to learn more about the proposal. Parents, members of the local community, staff and students all voiced their opinions to a panal that included, the Headteacher, Chairman of the School Governors, a West Sussex County Council Representative, head of the consultation process and representatives from the Woodard Trust. One of the main concerns raised at the event was the possibility of any Littlehampton Academy becoming a faith-designated establishment, a suggestion widely denied by Woodard.