Welcome
Spring Term Week five and six at Lodge Park Academy
Dear families
Week 5
Week five and week six have been filled with engaging and important activities as we continue our journey through the Spring term. We kicked off Mental Health Week with impactful assemblies led by Mr. Kirby for all Houses, setting a thoughtful tone as we built toward our Yellow Ribbon Mental Health Awareness Day, Friday 7th February 2025.. These assemblies helped to emphasize the importance of mental health and the value of supporting one another.
Mr. Cronin led Year Group Afternoon Assemblies focused on Exam Ready books, offering students key resources to support their revision and preparation for upcoming assessments. As we approach the summer exams, this has been a vital step in ensuring that students are equipped for success.
Our Year 11 students have been working hard in preparation for their mock exams, which are just around the corner. With final exams coming in May and June, the level of dedication is commendable. To support them further, we held a well-attended Year 11 Parents' Information Evening, offering insights into effective revision techniques and strategies for the critical weeks ahead. Please encourage students to revise this half term whilst balancing it with rest and relaxation.
Our Sixth Form students also showcased their talents this week with a series of impressive A-Level music recitals. It was an inspiring display of their dedication to their craft. In the spirit of Valentine's Day, our Sixth Form students have also been running a lovely initiative, selling anonymous roses. It's a heartwarming way for students to show appreciation for one another and spread a little joy around campus. Our GCSE and A Level students attended a composition workshop with professional musicians, the Berkeley Ensemble, who performed a number of their examination works.
Its been a week of growth, preparation, and celebration here at Lodge Park Academy. We’re so proud of our students’ resilience, enthusiasm, and commitment to their studies. Here’s to the continued hard work and spirit of our school community as we move through this term!
Week 6: A Focus on Wellbeing and Character
As we moved into Week 6, our commitment to providing valuable learning experiences outside of the classroom continued. Mrs Jones and Mrs Milligan built on last week's mental health focus in assembly by discussing the 5 Ways to Wellbeing. Part of this focused on giving and showing gratitude. A large number of students achieved rewards for attendance and positive behaviour. It was a reminder of the power of appreciation and how it helps foster a supportive and positive school culture.
Our Year 9 students participated in a thought-provoking Multi-Agency Day, where representatives from various institutions, including the Prison Service, Police, and Community Support Groups, came together to discuss the significant challenges and issues that young people face today. The aim was to raise awareness and empower students with the knowledge to make informed choices.
Later in the week, we hosted a whole school contextual PSHCE hour, focusing on the increasingly important topic of internet safety. With the digital world playing such a big role in our students' lives, it was crucial to provide them with the tools and understanding to stay safe online.
Our morning assembly programme revolved around the theme of Character. We explored what it means to have good character, how it shapes our decisions, and how we all have a responsibility to uphold the values of unity and respect within our school community. It was an enriching discussion and a great way to bring everyone together around shared ideals.
As the term draws to a close, we would like to thank our students, staff, and families for all the hard work, dedication, and support they have shown over the past few weeks. It has been a long but rewarding half-term, and we wish everyone a happy and healthy break.
From the Senior Leadership Team at Lodge Park Academy, thank you for being such an integral part of our school community.
Wishing you all the best for the upcoming break and beyond!
Well-being and Gratitude Year Assemblies.
This week Mrs Jones and Mrs Milligan have been delivering "Well-being & Gratitude" Year ssemblies. During the assemblies students received their Bronze, Silver and Gold Merit certificates and badges for positive behaviour.
Worship in Year 7 Redkite has now collected the full complement of Merit badges and certificates and is wearing them with pride along with his Diversity Champion badge in this photo.
There were also 'Perfect Awards' for one or two terms of 100% attendance, no lates and no behaviour points. In addition we had our 'Shock Drop Rewards' for any students who achieved 100% attendance for the last two weeks. All names were entered onto the Prize Wheel and the first eight names selected at random had the opportunity to choose a prize including an Xbox controller and a Beauty box.
Children's Mental Health Week
Last week at Lodge Park, we recognised National Children's Mental Health Week.
National statistics show that young people are highly unlikely to talk about their mental health, and few who have mental health challenges are diagnosed and supported to manage it. This is so worrying because over half of adult mental health challenges have their roots in our school ages.
Mr Kirby delivered House assemblies on the theme of Mental Health and Wellbeing to mark Children's Mental Health week, and everyone in our community was invited to wear yellow ribbons to raise awareness of the importance of being aware of children's mental health needs.
Supporting Your Child’s Preparation for Year 11 Mock Examinations
The forthcoming mock examination period is fast approaching, with exams scheduled to begin on Wednesday 26th February 2025. This is a crucial time in your child's academic journey, and we are reaching out to you to ask for your support in ensuring that your youngster is fully prepared for these important assessments.
In the lead-up to the next round of mock exams, it’s essential that students approach their revision with a structured and committed mindset. Evidence consistently shows that students who engage in organised and focused preparation are far more likely to achieve their full potential than those who leave things to the last minute and rely on last-minute ‘cramming’. A planned and disciplined approach to revision will not only improve their performance but also help to reduce stress in the lead-up to the exams.
Thank you to all parents who were able to make the time and attend our Parent Information Evening on Thursday, You ongoing support is really appreciated
Mr. McGeown - Vice Principal
Punctuality
Arriving on Time
Unfortunately, we have noticed a number of students arriving considerably later than the expected 8:30am line-up time. The gates are locked at 8:33am and at this point students must enter through Student Reception.
All students must be on site by 8:38am to avoid a late mark and late detention.
We, ask for your support in ensuring that students are arriving on time each day so they can make the most of their school experience and be fully engaged in their learning.
Yr11 Attendance Buddies
Twenty of our Year 11 students have been buddied up to support each other in achieving 100% attendance each week. For every pair of students achieving 100% there are weekly prizes, culminating in a larger prize and certificate at the end of the designated period. The support offered by a peer is always invaluable, particularly at this point in a student’s education.
Thank you for your continued support in reinforcing the significance of attendance at Lodge Park Academy. Let us work together to help our students thrive academically and personally.
Mrs Cooper- Vice Principal Attendance
What does your Child’s Attendance mean?
At Lodge Park Academy we are aiming for 100% attendance for all students. We have started sharing with you, via MCAS, when your child achieves 100% in one week, one month and each half term.
There are 365 days in the year and students are expected to be in school for 188 of these days. If a student has:
So, if your child has missed ten days of school in the academic year this is the same as 250 hours of learning. Or if your child has missed 95 days of school in the academic year this is the same as 2375 hours of learning.
When a child misses eight days of school in an academic year, they could drop half a GCSE grade in every subject. When a child misses seventeen days of school in an academic year they could drop a whole GCSE grade in every subject.
We know that there may be extenuating circumstances where a child cannot attend school or is finding it difficult to attend school and we want to be able to support you and your child. Please contact us the Attendance Team to arrange a meeting.
Our Attendance Team monitors students’ attendance and are available to discuss attendance issues if these should arise. If any student is absent the Attendance Officer must be informed on the morning of the absence with the reason for the absence. The phone number for reporting absences is 01536 203817.
Mrs Cooper - Vice Principal- Attendance
Hello I'm Mr York and I'm Assistant Principal for Sixth Form and Careers at Lodge Park. I also teach Computer Science and have been at Lodge Park for quite a long time. I studied Computer Science at De Montfort University.
I have been the Head of Computer Science and ICT at Lodge Park since September 2018. Before this I worked at other schools in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.
I have a BSc in ICT and Computing from the Open University, but my career before teaching was in Banking and Finance, working for the Royal Bank of Scotland and Nationwide.
I have a number of different hobbies that are non-tech related, generally involving processing wool in one form or another!
I am a Computer Science and IT Teacher at Lodge Park Academy. I joined the academy in April 2023, I am a form tutor to year 10 in Kestrel House and I run the Robotics, Esports and Computing Clubs.
I have been a teacher for over 10 years and before that I was a E-learning Developer Manager for Cadet Vocational College who ran the Duke of Westminster's Award, BTEC's in Music and Sport.
Interests are Sport Netball, Rugby, Football (LFC) and F1.
The Cube House Competition
Today we held our final house competition of the half term - The Cube!
Based on the popular gameshow, learners took turns at a variety of high-pressure challenges - losing lives every time they didn't complete the task.... all in the name of gaining points for their house.
The audience was 200 learners who had accrued enough reward points to be a part of the celebration.
House ‘Hyrox’ Results
Our first ever House ‘Hyrox’ competition took place this term as students across all year groups took on the grueling test of fitness.
The physical test of endurance, involved participants completing a total of 18 laps of the sports hall in addition to 20 x burpees, ball squats, rope pulls, sandbag lunges and a 200m row.
House points were awarded to the fastest students to complete all of the stations.
Congratulations to Sam (Year 11 - Goshawk) who completed the challenge in the fastest time of 8 minutes 13 seconds.
Kayden (Kestrel) Year 7 and Max (Goshawk) Year 8 both submitted the fastest times in their respective year groups.
A big well done to everyone who took part in the competition and had to display lots of resilience and mental toughness to overcome the challenge.
LPA House New Year Cup – Latest Scores
Kestrel have stormed into the lead in the latest update of the House New Year Cup. Over the last 7 days over 500km has been submitted by Kestrel House to open up a huge lead over Goshawk in 2nd place. Osprey are still in 3rd place but closing on Goshawk with Red Kite still in 4th place overall.
The deadline to enter this years New Year Cup is today.
Red Kite Dominate House Basketball
House Basketball took place at LPA last week with Red Kite dominating to win the Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 competitions in addition to finishing second in the Year 10 competition, almost completing a clean sweep.
Red Kite accumulated a huge 32 points across the week to finish in first place overall, followed by Kestrel in second place with 23 points, Goshawk in third place with 21 points and Osprey finished in fourth place with 16 points.
Term 4 House Competitions and Totaliser
It has been another action packed term of house competitions at LPA and we have so much more to look forward to.
Next term features a number of really exciting competitions including ‘Rocket League’, ‘MasterChef’, ‘Just Dance’ and ‘Badminton’ with a further 2,000+ House points on offer.
Romanian Coffee Morning
On Wednesday 29th January we hosted our first coffee morning for our Romanian speaking families.
During the session we discussed a wide range of topics including the behaviour and attendance policy, homework expectations, the Lodge Park House system and upcoming events for Year 11 and Year 9.
It was a pleasure to talk to these families, learn more about their children and find ways to overcome any barriers preventing their child reaching their full potential.
We are looking forward to hosting another session later in the year and are exploring how we can run coffee mornings for those families who speak other languages.
Mrs Milligan - Vice Principal
New College, Oxford Step Up Visit
On Thursday 30th January 2025, a group of 33 students visited New College, Oxford, as part of the Step Up programme. Accompanied by Ms. Corner, Mr. Cronin, Mrs. Morgan, and Mrs. Tilley, the students participated in a series of engaging activities that showcased both the academic and cultural richness of one of Oxford’s most renowned colleges.
The day kicked off with a programme refresher that helped set the tone for the visit, followed by an informative Q&A session with current New College students. The open and candid discussion gave our students valuable insights into life at Oxford. After lunch, which was a 2-course meal taken in New College's historic Great Hall, the group then enjoyed a guided tour of the stunning campus, where they were able to explore some of Oxford's most iconic landmarks, leaving some of them excited to visit the same scenes that were used in the Harry Potter films.
In addition to the cultural experiences, the students attended an inspiring law taster session, led by one of New College’s esteemed professors. The lecture was thought-provoking and challenged students to think critically, carefully considering all the facts presented to them. The visit to Oxford was also an important moment in challenging the misconception that Oxford University is only accessible to students from wealthy backgrounds or private schools. The Step-Up programme aims to break down these barriers and inspire students from state schools, demonstrating that they are just as likely to secure a place at one of the world's most prestigious institutions.
The trip was a powerful reminder that with determination, hard work, and the right support, all students can pursue their dreams, regardless of their background.
Overall, the trip was a success, providing our students with invaluable experiences, inspiration, and a deeper understanding of the opportunities available to them at Oxford University as they continue to explore their future academic and career paths.
'A' LEVEL MUSIC RECITAL
After school Friday 7th February 2025 we were treated to an incredibly high standard of performances from our A-Level Music students in Years 12 and 13, helping them to prepare for their final examination recitals.
The students performed in a wonderfully professional manner and it was lovely to welcome younger students to the event who were inspired by their performances.
Don't forget to follow us on instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/lpamusic_dret?igsh=MXhtYWZhbnJydjIycg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr to see snippets of the recital!
DRET COMPOSITION CHALLENGE
An incredible twenty three students from Years 10-13 have submitted pieces of music of their own composition for the DRET Composition Challenge this year, a huge increase from five students last year.
They have composed music for the professional Berkeley Ensemble of musicians who are World-renowned for performing and exploring new music, and our musicians were incredibly lucky on Friday to travel to Charnwood College in Loughborough to have some of their pieces workshopped live by these musicians.
These student are now full of ideas and inspiration of how to improve they music and will be adding the finishing touches to their pieces over the next couple of weeks.
We can't wait to hear the final performances of these new pieces of music!
SWI UNIFORM SUPPLIER
Academy Closes Friday 14th February 2025
Academy reopens Monday 24th February 2025
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Contact Us
Telephone: 01536 203817
Email: lpa-enquiries@lodgeparkacademy.co.uk
Please be aware this mailbox is monitored by a number of individuals, please do not disclose any confidential information.
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