LONGSANDS ACADEMY

PRINCIPAL’S WEEKLY BULLETIN

Monday, 28 March 2022 (Week A)

KEY DATES COMING UP:

FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Dear Parents and Carers 28/29 March
Year 9/10 Vaccinations
It’s been lovely to enjoy the spring weather this week. This
improvement in weather has enabled more students to 1 April
enjoy their outside spaces for break and lunchtimes. A Non-uniform day
reminder that with this warmer weather, some students Fundraiser for Hope4Malawi
may benefit from having sunscreen if they choose to sit
out in the sun during break and lunchtimes. The warmer 4-18 April
weather has also given us the opportunity to look at standards of uniform more Easter break
clearly, now the big winter coats are no longer needed. We are really pleased to
27 April
see that the vast majority of students have impeccable uniform, in line with policy All Out ‘80s
and we thank parents and carers for their continued support with this.
30 May - 3 June
Staffing the school has remained challenging this week. We currently have 4
Half-term break
teachers and 4 members of support staff with Covid-19. Thankfully we have
managed to cover lessons with a combination of internal and external supply 27 June - 1 July
teaching, avoiding the need to move some year groups to online learning so far. Year 10 Work Experience
Student Covid-19 numbers are at 39 as the week draws to a close. While routine
asymptomatic/close contact testing and mask wearing is no longer expected, 11 - 15 July
families are welcome to continue with these measures through personal choice. Year 7, 8, 9 Activities Week
We continue to reinforce the importance of thorough, regular hand washing with
soap and water or using hand sanitiser.
Thank you to all parents/carers of Year 7 students who attended our Year 7 Parent Consultations this week. That
draws our parent consultation season to an end for this academic year. We continue to receive much positive
feedback about the remote platform used. Please feel free to contact us at – [email protected] – if
you have any other feedback about your parent consultation experiences.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support of our Longsands community.
Mr N D Owen
Principal

YEARS Congratulations to all students who have

7-11 HOUSE POINTS earned House points. These are awarded
for a variety of reasons - all of which are in recognition of our core values of
Working Hard, Being Kind and Achieving More!
Congratulations to everyone in HAWKING House who have earned the
most House points so far, having amassed 7,714!
Next is TURING who have 7,540, followed by AUSTEN who have 7,158, very
closely followed by DARWIN with 7,098 and then SEACOLE with 7,066.
Which House will be in the lead next week?
 LONGSANDS ACADEMY
PRINCIPAL’S WEEKLY BULLETIN
Monday, 28 March 2022 (Week A)

YEARS
7-11 NON-UNIFORM DAY FUNDRAISER FOR HOPE4MALAWI
We are celebrating the end of this term with a Non-Uniform Day to fundraise for Hope4Malawi, a charity based in
the UK that helps children attend secondary school in Malawi that we are supporting. Currently only about 10%
of children in Malawi have the opportunity to attend secondary school. However, a good secondary education
significantly changes their livelihoods and enables them to escape the poverty trap by providing them with skills to
secure well paid jobs which will then impact their families and their communities. Most of the children who are at
Hope are from poor families who struggle to provide school fees, uniform, exercise books and stationery. In fact,
many students work as well as attend school to help provide for their families.
We are supporting 5 students through their four year Secondary school career, 1 student per House. Sponsorship
for these students is £20 a month and we are already 30% towards our annual £1500 target total. You can donate
Non-Uniform Day payments via ParentPay which will open on Monday 28 February or alternatively your child can
bring in their suggested cash donation of £1 on Friday 1 April and Form Tutors which Form Tutors will be collecting.
Thank you for your support of this most worthy cause. Global issues and plights have never been so prominent
in our minds and it is testimony to the generosity of our Academy community that we are able to help those less
fortunate than ourselves.
We look forward to providing further updates throughout the year. In the meantime, if you would like to support
the Longsands fundraising for Hope4Malawi, you can do so here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/
Longsandssponsorship
 LONGSANDS ACADEMY
PRINCIPAL’S WEEKLY BULLETIN
Monday, 28 March 2022 (Week A)

YEAR
12 INSPIRING SCIENTIST PROGRAMME
During February half term three of our Year 12 students were selected to take part in a
work experience week with the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research. With only 12
spots available we were over the moon to see so many filled by Longsands students.
They were able to experience some cutting-edge research, as well as talks from leading
professors in their respective fields. We are, as always, incredibly proud of our amazing
students and they have detailed their experiences below:
Ella C: Over the half term, I took part in the inspiring scientist programme at CIMR. The lab I was assigned to is
looking at the human cytomegalovirus, a strain of herpes virus, and how the viral proteins interact with host cells.
Not only was I able to shadow the scientists, but I was able to carry out my own research on viral proteins. We
had seminars from professors and consultants about new medical advancements, including handheld potassium
monitors, genome sequencing and mutations leading to pain insensitivity. At St. Catharines college, we had one to
one mentoring and workshops on personal statements, helping our applications and giving me a great insight into
what studying medicine at Cambridge would me like. The programme has inspired me to do research alongside my
career as a doctor!
Abi H: Over the half term I attended the CIMR inspiring scientists programme, in which I got to attend lecture style
talks about current medical research and diagnostic technology. I was also able to conduct research in a lab setting,
use the equipment and present my investigation at the end as well as listen to all the other labs investigations.
Ayca K: During the CIMR inspiring scientists programme I got a chance to work with Professor Margaret Robinson
in her lab at CIMR, where we performed Transfection and PCR. The Robinson Lab’s main interest is to learn how
membrane proteins are packaged into tiny vesicles to deliver their cargo to different organelles. It was fascinating
to be there and to see what they do in their lab environment on a day to day basis. I can wholeheartedly say that
I enjoyed the week a lot and that I’ve learnt something new every single day. And, I personally think that it was an
amazing and highly useful experience, as the week was filled with a range of different activities, such as the seminars
and core facility tours, as well as shadowing in labs.
If you would like further information, here is a link to an article from University of Cambridge:
https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/cambridge-widening-participation-programme-inspiring-scientists

ALL The Astrea Parent App is going to be

YEARS
NEW PARENT APP phased out and we will be moving over to
a new system called MCAS (My Child At School) during the Easter holiday when we are
changing data management system to a new provider.
The MCAS app is available free of charge from your app store and will allow us to easily communicate with parents.
Whether it’s sharing information such as attendance, achievement and behaviours that have been awarded, key
dates or viewing the latest progress report, all of the information is easily accessible from the convenience of your
phone, tablet or PC.
Please look out for future communications with your unique login details nearer the time.
 LONGSANDS ACADEMY
PRINCIPAL’S WEEKLY BULLETIN
Monday, 28 March 2022 (Week A)

YEAR Well done to all

7
YEAR 7 FOOTBALL SUCCESS students who
have participated in the Year 7 football team this season! It has been
superb to see so many students at football training participating and
developing their performance. The season concluded with a fixture
v St Ivo on Thursday 17th March. Having lost only once, hopefully we
will be successful in reaching the District final on 31st March.

YEARS
9+
GAME ON: FOOTBALL ACTIVATORS
10 This week our Barclays Game On Football Activators took to
their second workshop, their aim to improve and provide
further opportunities for girls in football. Our group of seven
Year 10 students and five Year 9 students worked with
members of the Hunts FA to educate themselves in the world
of football and sport. Our activators learnt how to make, plan,
deliver and review coaching session as well as engaging with
theoretical work around women’s football. Mr Hudson said
that the students worked incredibly well throughout and look
forward to their third session.

YEARS Last week in PE saw the

9+
STRETCH & CHALLENGE boys group from our
10 Year 9 and 10 stretch and challenge students making their way to the
University of Bedfordshire.
The Year 9 students participated in some gymnastics at the university
led by one of the sport lecturers from the university. They learnt shapes,
flight and routines during their time at the stretch and challenge session
(a video and more pictures can be found on the PE department twitter
page @LongsandsPE). Year 10 students spent time in the laboratories
and experienced fitness testing and analysis, along with how to measure
tidal volume, take heart rate, and blood pressure.
Mr Hudson said the students were a credit to Longsands, and we have been delighted to receive some excellent
feedback from the university. We look forward to working collaboratively with the university in future sessions.

YEARS Congratulations and well done to all students

9+
INTRODUCTION TO REFEREEING involved in the Induction to Refereeing in Football
10 course with Hunts FA and Hunts SSP. We had over 40 students participate in the course, with the expectation that
some of these young people may go on to become referees, and take their referee qualifications. Our students
learnt the use of signals, different tones on whistle to use and analysed different scenarios on when a red, yellow
or no card would be shown. We look forward to seeing some of these young people working and refereeing within
the community over the coming years.
 LONGSANDS ACADEMY
PRINCIPAL’S WEEKLY BULLETIN
Monday, 28 March 2022 (Week A)

YEAR
7 CONFIDENCE BUILDING WORKSHOP WITH MATT GIGGS & CO
We are delighted to have been able to invite Matt Giggs and Gemma Noonan back into Longsands Academy once
again to meet with students.
On Monday 21st March, a select number of students worked with both Matt and Gemma exploring key topics
such as confidence, self-belief and developing coping strategies. The students enjoyed this one-hour session and
benefited from the conversations and discussions held.
We are very much looking forward to holding a further session after the Easter holidays. Huge thanks to Matt and
Gemma.

YEARS To express an interest in the 2023 ski trip, your son/daughter should attend a
7-10 SKI TRIP 2023 meeting on Tuesday 29 March at 10.45 am in the Sports Hall or see Miss Dixon or
email her via [email protected]
 LONGSANDS ACADEMY
PRINCIPAL’S WEEKLY BULLETIN
Monday, 28 March 2022 (Week A)

YEAR Year 9 students are currently studying Surrealism, an artistic and literary
9 YEAR 9 SURREALISM movement founded in 1924. As part of their introduction to this art
movement, students created a title page to their project that lists key words and background information. Salvador
Dali is perhaps the most well-known Surrealist artist and so students also created a careful watercolour study of a
section of one of his art works. Great attention to detail and presentation Year 9!
To find out more about Salvador Dali, and to view his art, please visit the Dali Museum website (thedali.org) or the
Tate gallery website (tate.org.uk).
 LONGSANDS ACADEMY
PRINCIPAL’S WEEKLY BULLETIN
Monday, 28 March 2022 (Week A)

YEARS The delicious menus offered by our talented catering team are being updated
7-11 CATERING MENUS after the Easter break and can be seen below - you can see further information
on our website.
 LONGSANDS ACADEMY
PRINCIPAL’S WEEKLY BULLETIN
Monday, 28 March 2022 (Week A)

ALL
YEARS
STAFF VACANCIES
All of our staff vacancies are shared HERE, please do take a look and sign up to receive new job alerts if you would
like to. All staff share a commitment to safeguarding and staff in regulated activity will be subject to an Enhanced DBS
Check and a barred list check. Other checks may be requested if applicable.
Exam invigilators
We are looking to expand our team of Exam Invigilators who assist with both internal and external examinations
throughout the academic year. We are looking for confident, flexible individuals with effective verbal and written
communication skills, who will be able to offer a reassuring presence to students in exam rooms.
Duties include setting up the examination room, distributing and collecting scripts, supervising students during
examinations, whilst working in accordance with set procedures at all times.
Full training will be provided. No experience is necessary, however invigilators should:
• Have effective communication skills
• Be able to relate to academic staff and students
• Be able to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Have a flexible approach to work
• Have accuracy and attention to detail
These positions are on a casual, as and when required basis, throughout the academic year with the main examination
season in May and June. However, we also have mock exams in November and February and invigilators are required
for these as well. Hours worked will usually be between 8.30am and 4pm with an 8.30am or 1.00/1.15pm start.
If you are, or you know of someone who might be interested please email Margaret Carpenter, Exams Manager on
[email protected] for further information.

Lettings Supervisor
We an exciting opportunity for a Lettings Supervisor to join our team! Hiring out our facilities here at Longsands
Academy enables us to both support our local community and generate additional income for the school. The role
of Lettings Supervisor is vital to enable our weekend lettings commitments to be fulfilled.
The hours of work will generally be 9/9.30 am to 5.30/6pm on Saturday and 9/9.30am to 3pm Sunday. Whilst lettings
are underway you will be expected to carry out some aspects of site maintenance as directed by the Site Manager.
For further information and to apply: CLICK HERE

Site Officer
We have an exciting opportunity for a Site Officer to join our team! Providing an essential service, you will work
as part of a team carrying out a full range of caretaking and maintenance activities; including general repairs to
property, site cleanliness, fixtures and fittings and setting up for assemblies, exams and events. The role holder will
have responsibility for maintaining a safe and secure environment for all.
The hours are worked on a rolling 3-week shirt basis. We are looking for individuals who have:
• Experience of working in an environment generating both planned and unplanned demands
• Experience of managing workload and working to tight deadlines
• Good knowledge of DIY/general maintenance
For further information and to apply: CLICK HERE