The Lenham School Newsletter

Term 2 - Christmas Edition

2026 – The TLS Year of Reading and Maths

Dear Parent/Carer, 2025 has been a year dedicated to launching our new Houses and building on the amazing opportunities that we believe children should have access to. You will be able to see that for yourself as you read this newsletter; I am amazed by what we have done over the last term. But what will next year look like? I want our whole school community to be focusing on two of the most life changing skills that exist: ·Being confident in reading and hopefully, learning to love it. · Believing in themselves with Maths and achieving highly. We have continued to invest heavily in these areas with intervention, facilities, resources and staffing… but we will need your help on this journey too. In particular, the use of Sparx Maths and Sparx Reader to build those habits outside of school. We believe these tools can be transformational. Many parents have noticed that their children are finding both reading and maths more difficult than expected in recent years. As parents, it isn’t always easy to know what to do and how to help. This is a national picture and does not mean any of our children are less able. The disruption caused by Covid schools being closed affected how key skills developed, and we are learning more and more about this all the time. Reading and maths are built step by step. During lockdowns, many pupils missed important foundations such as phonics, vocabulary, reading stamina, number facts, times tables and place value. When these basics are not secure, later learning becomes more challenging and tiring. Covid also affected confidence and focus. Many children now worry more about making mistakes and find it harder to concentrate for long periods. This is why we have invested so much time into creating opportunities and making school so enjoyable that it becomes unmissable. However, we also need to keep investing in those basics. So, in 2026, I want parents, teachers and children to all stand together, pickup a book, grab the iPad, load up Sparx Maths/Reader, and all work together to make sure these skills really stick! I believe in every single member of The Lenham School community and I know we can make 2026 a truly successful year of reading and maths! Mr Ferguson - Headteacher

welcome

We come to the end of not only a very busy term, but also the end of an amazing year for TLS.

Class of 2026 will be a 'vintage' year

We have been incredibly proud of how hard our Year 11 students have been working. They have truly stepped up to the challenge and embraced the additional support the school has put in place to help them succeed. Students have now completed their first wave of Pre-Public Mock Examinations (PPEs). This was a gruelling seven days, during which students prepared for and sat a number of exams based on real GCSE papers. Teachers worked tirelessly to mark papers in time for our PPE Results Day, where students collected their results and took part in a short one-to-one feedback meeting with a member of the Leadership Group to review their performance and next steps. Students told us that they wanted ‘more learning’, and we have responded by introducing three additional short intervention sessions each week in English, Maths and Science. This is in addition to nightly after-school revision sessions and further support through GCSEPod, Sparx and Seneca. We know how keen parents are to support their children, which is why we have recorded our first-ever podcast for parents of students in Years 10 and 11, offering guidance on how best to support learning at home.

Year 11s continue to work hard

A busy term for trips

As is customary each term, there have been many trips to enrich and support student learning. These included Year 8 visiting the Sea Life Centre in Nausicaa, where they were able to practise their language skills; Sixth Form trips to Royal Holloway University and the Aspiration Digital Skills Conference to inspire future pathways; GCSE Dance students visiting the Jasmin Vardimon Dance Studio to take part in industry-focused workshops; Year 10 and 12 Media students visiting the Harry Potter Studio Tour; and Year 9 students visiting Ypres as part of their First World War studies. Thank you to all staff involved in organising and running these trips, and well done to the students who continue to impress us with their mature attitudes and enthusiasm.

Year 11s completing their field work

Year 8s in Nausicaa

Year 9 went to Ypres

Students loved the magic of Harry Potter

Amazing Opportunities

There has also been a huge amount happening within school. Year 7 and 8 students welcomed the return of Paul Cree (rapper, poet and theatre maker), who once again inspired students through workshops focused on turning life experiences into poetry. Year 9 students enjoyed a STEM event run by the University of Kent, experiencing a range of captivating experiments to enhance their learning. Year 10 and 11 students were visited by the Globe Players, who performed An Inspector Calls to support GCSE English Literature studies, while Year 12 students began their mentoring journey by completing a course run by Oppidan Education.

Year 9 really enjoyed their STEM Day

The Globe Players brought 'An Inspector Calls' to life

Younger Students really enjoyed Paul Cree's workshop

The 'Stars' of Lenham Lights

One tradition we are particularly proud of is our involvement in the annual Lenham Lights event. This year, visitors were entertained by the cast of our school production of Footloose. Our students truly stole the show with their performances and certainly whetted the appetite for the full production, which will be staged in January. Please visit the school website for further details.

TLS 'Lighting Up' the Show

TLS Sixth Form - Centre of Excellence

We are immensely proud of what our Sixth Form has become. Over the past two years, it has expanded rapidly and now offers a truly unique provision. Our curriculum is designed to prepare students for the modern world, complemented by our link with the Pro Soccer Academy, leadership opportunities and new Sixth Form facilities that support effective independent study. It was therefore no surprise that our Sixth Form Open Evening was extremely well attended, with students from TLS and other schools keen to learn more about what we offer. If your child is in Year 11, or you know someone who is, please encourage them to explore our exciting Sixth Form provision on Kent Choices.

TLS 6th Form goes from 'strength to strength'

Spelling Bee

Another highlight this year has been how quickly and successfully the new House system has become embedded in school life. This was showcased through the incredibly popular and competitive Spelling Bee. Students in Years 7–10 represented their House by demonstrating their spelling skills, leading to two highly competitive lunchtime finals performed in front of a live audience. The Year 7 and 8 competition was won by Nepean House, while Brockwell were victorious in the Year 9 and 10 event. A huge well done to all students who took part, and sincere thanks to Ms Kenny-Purcell and Ms Agley for organising the event.

Students were so engaged in taking part in the inaugural 'Spelling Bee'

'12 Days of Christmas'

Regular school attendance is vital, and we continue to celebrate students who attend every day. This term we ran the ‘12 Days of School’ challenge, where students with full attendance over the final two weeks were entered into a draw to win a £20 Amazon gift card. We also turned the final week of term into an ‘Unmissable Week’, featuring activities such as Christmas Jumper Day and our annual Christmas Dinner, which saw more students taking part than ever before.

Students really enjoyed their day

Over 60 Christmas Tea Party

TLS is proud of the role it plays within the local community. This term we hosted our second Over 60s Christmas Tea Party, welcoming 31 local residents into school to enjoy food prepared and cooked by our Sixth Form students, alongside entertainment from students across all year groups. We were incredibly impressed by all students involved, particularly our Year 12 students who organised and ran the event.

6th Form Students prepared the food

They were great hosts

Our visitors really enjoyed themselves

Our Younger Students provided the entertainment

Quality of careers Mark

Preparing students for the world beyond school remains a key priority. We are therefore delighted to have been awarded the highest possible grade for the Quality of Careers Education provision by Investors in Careers. This significant achievement reflects the dedication and hard work of Mr Diamond and Mrs Culbreth and confirms TLS as a nationally recognised centre of excellence for careers education.

TLS has been praised for its commitment to careers education

Sporting Success

It has also been another excellent term for sport. While our football teams continue to build on last year’s successes, this newsletter highlights the achievements of our newly formed rugby teams. Rugby has not traditionally been a focus at TLS, but following strong student interest we have introduced teams this year and have already seen fantastic success. Our Year 7 team has made an impressive start to tournament rugby, competing against schools including The Malling School, SST, Holmesdale, Oakwood Park Grammar School and Aylesford. The team achieved four wins and currently sit second in a league of eight teams — a remarkable achievement. The Year 11 rugby team showed tremendous resilience in a thrilling 28–24 victory against Cornwallis. After falling 12–0 behind, Lenham rallied with outstanding performances, including a hat-trick of tries from Parnell and an excellent display under pressure from Charlie Scott, who also crossed the line. Harper’s accurate kicking added further pressure, and despite a late Cornwallis comeback, Lenham defended bravely in the final moments to secure the win. The team was superbly led by senior players including Whitehead, Donlon, French and Hammond, and this season has highlighted the depth of rugby talent across the year group.

Our Teams continue to impress

Year 8 Football

Rugby has been a big hit this year with the students

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We wish all students and families a restful and enjoyable break and look forward to welcoming everyone back next term.

How to Find Out More

Please feel free to join our Facebook Page The Lenham School | Maidstone | Facebook to keep up to date with all the exciting things that are happening both in and out of the classroom.

Second Hand Uniform

Details of how to access our second-hand uniform is available on our school website. With the continued rise in household costs, we hope this initiative can make a small difference by helping some of our families to access free uniform https://www.thelenham.viat.org.uk/1850/uniform.

Dates for the Diary - Term 3

6 January - Start of Term 3

7 January - V In The Pub

14-15 January - Year 11 Parent Consultation Evening

20 January - Year 9 Business and Enterprise Day

21-23 January - Footloose Production

26 January - Year 10 Graphics Trip to Folkestone

28 January - Duke of Edinburgh Awards Ceremony

12 February - Year 8 Immunisations

12 February - Year 12 and 13 Parent Consultation Evening

13 February - End of Term 3

We hope you all have a well-deserved half term break and look forward to welcoming you back on Tuesday 6 January.

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The Lenham School Website