LPA Newsletter Friday 20th September 2024

Welcome

Dear Families,

It has been another exciting week in the Academy with a range of opportunities, events and competitions where students can reflect on what they like and what they are good at and what it is like to try something new, possibly out of their comfort zone.

On Tuesday we held our Year 6 and Year 12 Open Evening event which gave us the opportunity to show off our school and engage with a large number of prospective Year 7 students and their parents whilst also showcasing our wonderful Sixth Form to current Year 11 and external students hoping to come to us in September 2025. We received an enormous amount of positive feedback from a number of parents who were impressed with what our school has to offer. We look forward to welcoming many parents back into school during our Open Days on Tuesday 24th September and Friday 27th September 2024 between 9.15 and 10.15am.

This week’s Character Assembly delivered by each Head of House has focused on ‘Ambition’. Students listened to staff explaining the concept of ambition and were given examples both local and national of what ambitious individuals act like. Assemblies linked the idea of ‘Ambition’ to the notion of aspiration, encouraging our students to have an idea, achievable future goals and how we as a school can support them to meet their expectations.

On Thursday evening we invited our Year 11 Parents into school, sharing with them how we will support students during this next crucial year and what they as parents can do to support.

We also completed the application process for our Raven Sports Programme which has been incredibly popular. Names for the first term's programme have been shared today. The PE team have also delivered our first Year 7 ‘settling in’ House rounders tournament alongside Year 10 and 11 Football Fixtures.

We continue to be impressed with the attitude of most students as they settle back into the routine of school. Year 7 are becoming more comfortable in their surroundings and less of them are getting lost. Year 11 have also shown a determination to return ready to work hard and realise their potential.

Thank you to all families for the support you have given the school over the last three weeks.

Warm Regards

Senior Leadership Team
Open Evening at Lodge Park Academy

On Tuesday 17th September we had the pleasure of welcoming our prospective Y6 into Y7 and Year 11 into 12 parents into the Academy for our official Lodge Park Academy Open Evening 2024.

This event gives us as a school the opportunity to demonstrate exactly what we are about and how we operate in order to provide the highest standards of education and care we can for the students that we are responsible for.

Our Executive Principal addressed all parents across two presentations alongside our incoming Principal, Mr Jonathan Kirby. Mr Kirby will be joining LPA in November and addressed parents setting out his excitement to get started.

The school was then opened up to parents to tour our subject areas. In classrooms there was a range of exciting activities to spark the imaginations of our future students. This was a really positive night and we received a number of very positive comments.

We look forward to welcoming parents to our forthcoming Open Days.

Mr McGeown – Vice Principal
Year 11 Parents Information Evening

Thank you to all Year 11 parents who supported us by attending our Year 11 Parents Information Evening on Thursday 19th September 2024.

The purpose of this was to provide a clear, and detailed outline of the forthcoming academic year to enable you to support us and your child to make the progress they need to support their next steps to LPA 6th Form or beyond.

Mr Cronin (Year 11 SLT Link) and Mr McGeown (Vice Principal) were on hand to give expert, first hand experience of the many challenges that this year may bring.

Y7 Open Mornings – Tuesday 24th and Friday 27th September 9.15am to 10.15 am

Why not come and see us in action?

If you are a parent of a child in Year 6 and would like to experience how our academy operates, then join us for our Open morning!

Please contact the school on 01536 203817 and book your place at the earliest opportunity.

Mr McGeown – Vice Principal
Year 10 Parent Information Evening – Thursday 26th September 6.00 p.m. - 7.00 p.m.

We invite you to attend this Yr 10 Parent Information evening where we will discuss the support on offer to enable all Yr 10 students to make a successful and purposeful start to their GCSE studies.

We would love to see you there!

Mr McGeown – Vice Principal and Mr Cronin Assistant Principal.
The LPA Raven’s Project

The Buzz around school with regards to our all new Sports Development Programme, The LPA Raven’s Project has been palpable this week.

Students have excitedly and busily been completing their applications forms awaiting the Thursday deadline and then a decision on whether they have been successful or not.

All has been revealed on Friday with the programme beginning in earnest from Monday 23rd of September.

Please do not feel disheartened if your child has not been able to get onto the first stage of the programme, further opportunities will arise in the Spring and Summer Terms.

Mrs Morgan and Mr McGeown
Attendance

As many of you will be aware from publicity in the press, and letters we have sent out previously, the government have significantly toughened the law in relation to school attendance and have now published revised guidance which has become mandatory from September 2024.

From September 2024, schools have to consider a penalty notice if a pupil misses 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. Half of a day (am or pm) is considered as a ‘session’. The threshold of 10 sessions can be met with any combination of unauthorised absence, for example, eight sessions of unauthorised holidays in term time and two sessions for other unauthorised reasons would trigger a penalty notice.

The ten school week period may span different terms or school years, for example: 2 sessions of unauthorised absence in the summer term and a further 8 in the autumn term.

National Framework for Attendance Penalty Notices (fines)

The new penalty notice regulations are:

  • Each parent will be issued a separate penalty notice, for each child who is absent. For example, 2 parents and 3 children, each parent will receive 3 penalty notices for £160 each, with a family total of £960 in fines.
  • The fine amount will be £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days, reduced to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days.
  • The first penalty notice will be considered your first offence.
  • The next time an offence occurs, within 3 years of the date the first penalty notice is issued, the fine amount will be £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days, with no reduction.
  • The third time an offence occurs this will be presented to Magistrate’s court for prosecution.

Where a child is absent, and it is believed they are absent without valid reason, we will carry out a home visit and see the child on or before the third school day of absence. If the absence meets the thresholds explained above, you will be issued fixed penalty notices as detailed above.

Please review any holiday plans you have for term time this year to ensure you are not issued with a penalty fine or prosecuted in the Magistrates’ court.

The above rules also apply to punctuality as registers must close at the end of our tutor period. Arriving to school after this time will result in an unauthorised absence. To enable our morning registration (AM) to begin promptly, we require all students to be on site for 8.30 a.m. This is the time your child must be in school, ready to be marked into registers. Therefore, we ask that you ensure your child arrives at 8.30 a.m. and they are with their tutor by 8.40 a.m. at the latest.

Your child must register with their tutor and attend P1 to ensure their ‘present’ marks are captured within the AM registration period. Your child must attend afternoon registration and P5 to ensure their ‘present’ marks are captured within the PM registration period. Even if your child is on site they will not be registered unless they are in their tutor room and classrooms and an unauthorised mark will be given. Ten unauthorised sessions in a ten school week period will result in a fixed penalty notice.

Pupils who attend school regularly will achieve higher grades than those pupils who don’t. In the summer of 2024 pupils at Lodge Park who had above 90% attendance achieved half a grade higher than those who below this.

If you require any support or advice please get in touch via email us on attendance@lodgeparkacademy.co.uk

LPA Uniform

We are really pleased with how smart so many of our pupils look each day at Lodge Park, demonstrating our value of respect for themselves and the Academy. We would like to take this opportunity to remind you of some of the uniform expectations as unfortunately a minority of pupils are not meeting these at present:

  • Skirts should not be made of a stretchy or lycra type material. They should be knee length and standard school type material.
  • Shoes should be plain black (including the sole) and polishable, with only black laces – No suede, trainers, leisure style or sports branded footwear – for example Nike, Adidas, Lacoste, Converse even if all black, are NOT acceptable or heels higher than 2cm. If boots are worn they must be ankle length and worn under trousers.
  • Pupils should wear their school blazer when moving around the Academy.
  • No coats are to be worn in the building.
  • No hoodies should be worn on site.
  • Only one pair of ear studs should be worn. NO other jewellery or piercings are allowed, including nose piercings.
  • Make up should be natural/discreet.
  • No nail polish or fake nails should be worn.
Thank you in advance for your support with this.
House News
Kestrel Crowned Year 7 Rounders Cup Champions

On Friday last week the new year 7 students represented their house teams for the very first time in the annual LPA Rounders Cup. Over 50 students stayed behind afterschool in a bid to win the first set of house points, as Kestrel, Goshawk, Red Kite and Osprey went head to head in an action packed afternoon of rounders. Following three rounds of closely contested matches it was Kestrel house who were crowned champions with three wins from three. Goshawk, Red Kite and Osprey all finished on 5 points with one win and two draws each.

Champions Kestrel secured 75 house points with Goshawk, Red Kite and Osprey all picking up 15 points each for their joint finish.

It was great to see so many parents in attendance following their invite to spectate the event. The afternoon came to an exciting end, following the awarding of the rounders cup trophy to Kestrel, as an ice cream van was in attendance for all students, staff and parents to treat themselves at the end of what was a thoroughly enjoyable first event.

Congratulations to all who took part.

House Limbo – Friday 20th September 2024

The first Theatre house competition of the year takes place on Friday with representatives across each year group taking to the stage to take part in the House Limbo competition. 250 house points are on offer for this event.

Students who wish to attend the event must be in possession of a ticket, received from their tutor.

The action gets underway lunchtime at 1.30pm in the main hall.

House Netball – Monday 23rd to Friday 27th September

House Netball takes place next week, running from Tuesday to Friday during lunchtimes. Year 11 competition will take place afterschool due to interventions.

Students who have been selected to represent their house in this event must bring in their PE Kits and get changed at the beginning of lunch.

Please note the following dates each year group are competing:

  • Tuesday 24th September – Year 7
  • Wednesday 25th September – Year 8
  • Thursday 26th September – Year 9
  • Friday 27th September – Year 10
  • Friday 27th September – Year 11 (3.30pm start)
House Totaliser
Following the Year 7 Rounders Cup results it is Kestrel who are top of the House Championship. There is still a further 2000 points on offer throughout this term alone – who will be top at the end of term?
Book Fair
Lodge Park Academy will be hosting a book fair in the library from 2nd October until 9th October 2024.

All pupils will have the opportunity to visit the book fair which will feature current, popular children’s fiction from a range of genres and authors. Further information will be sent to parents regarding making payments for books at the fair.

Book Review Competition

We are holding a ‘Book Review’ competition. Pupils can enter for the chance to win a £5 voucher which can be spent at the book fair. Pupils should drop their reviews off to the library on Monday 23rd September 2024.

available from the library
Students' Leave of Absence

A Principal can only authorise a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances. We will take into account the Government guidance when considering what the exceptional circumstances are- all applications are considered on a case-by-case basis. You may be able to take your child out of school in exceptional circumstances, providing an application is made in advance by the parent/carer, this request complies with Government guidance and the leave is deemed to be ‘exceptional’ by the Principal.

If you take a leave of absence without our permission, or if your child fails to return by the agreed date if permission was granted, then this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence and noted in your child’s record. You might also be issued with a fixed penalty notice for this absence. If your child has not returned within 10 days of the expected date of return then, after consultation with the Local Authority, we may take your child off our school roll.

As examples, the following reasons are not considered to be exceptional circumstances:

• availability of cheap holidays

• periods overlapping with beginning or end of term

• visits to family

• renewing passports

Requests for leave of absence will only be considered if made in writing. Please ensure you use the leave of absence request form to do this. Please follow this link.

https://forms.office.com.mcas.ms/Pages/DesignPageV2.aspx?subpage=design&FormId=rNtiV9Z_jkCJ_3zpA_qaUtzPpjtgvOhJnwEUMazbjl1UMVJSNDBWMEZKUVNQUkpZOVE1MkJPSEk1Sy4u&Token=7dd8f1fb1a3a452b9cee9aa0a086c2d6&McasTsid=20893&McasCtx=4

Dates to Remember

Y7 Open Mornings – Tuesday 24th September 2024 and Friday 27th September 2024 - 9.15am to 10.15 am
Year 10 Parent Information Evening – Thursday 26th September 6.00 p.m. - 7.00 p.m.
Academy closes to students on Friday 18th October 2024
Academy opens to staff and students on Monday 4th November 2024
LPA Uniform Suppliers

Please see communication below from our uniform suppliers…….

We’re back to school ready!

Parents who shop at SWI this summer will benefit from:

- Extended returns to 15th September in case of summer growth

- New improved sizing tools that help you get the right size, every time

- Our lowest offers across essential uniforms and additional accessories

- Sign up for our Summer Prize Draw and be in for a chance to win 1 in 20 £50 vouchers!

Please find link to Hub https://www.swischoolwear.co.uk/parent-guide?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=CAM&utm_campaign=BTS_Email2_Parenthub

St Columba's, Corby - 15th October 2024 7.30pm
Riding Lights Theatre Company is pleased to announce

"Cups on a String" by Bridget Foreman, a new play touring in partnership with Transforming Lives for Good, a Christian charity that helps churches to bring hope and a future to struggling children. A powerful and moving evening of theatre.

Alongside the performance of Cups on a String, the evening will provide an opportunity to hear about the work of Transforming Lives for Good, and how each of us can play a part in supporting the lives of struggling children.

"You think I’m some kind of broken kid and you just want to fix me. With games."
Joe’s eleven and home is hard. School is even harder. He breaks stuff: pencils, chairs, rules.
One thing he won’t break is his silence.
Heather’s fifty-seven. She’s got a comfortable life and a comfortable home. But her comfortable world is about to be turned upside down as she and Joe spend an hour a week together. Every week. For a year.
Where will this journey of hours and weeks take them?

Cups on a String is a warm-hearted and moving new play, developed from remarkable true stories. It’s about playfulness, listening and laughter, and how risk-taking and trust can lead to growth and transformation.

Challenging, surprising and beautifully hopeful, Cups on a String blends theatre, live music and digital technology to take you into the heart of the friendship between Heather and Joe, and the profound impact it has on them both.

AGE GUIDANCE: 14+

Tickets cost £15 for adults and £10 for under 18's, students, unemployed and senior citizens, can be purchased from Riding Lights by going to the following link:

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/northamptonshire/st-columbas-church/cups-on-a-string/2024-10-15/19:30/t-zzqnxyy

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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