Milehouse Lane, Wolstanton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire ST5 9JU
t: 01782 742900 www.wolstantonhigh.org.uk e:
5th April 2017
Dear Parents and Carers
Re: Easter Newsletter
It is hard to believe that we are now in the final few days of this half-term and that the Easter break is already upon us.
This half term has seen a number of changes. We would like to thank you for your support with those changes, as we work together to make sure that our school provides the very best for our young people in everything that we do. Thank you also to those parents who attended our coffee mornings and evening meeting. It was super to have an opportunity to meet you and to hear your views on what is going well and what you would like to see further improved at Wolstanton.
Changes to Form Groups
After the Easter holidays, we will re-open school with our students in year-based form groups, rather than the current vertical ‘house’ system; this means that all the students in each form will be in the same year group. As a result, we will be able to make better use of morning tutor time, cover aspects which are age-appropriate and address pertinent issues to each year group more effectively.
We have given very careful consideration to restructuring our pastoral support to give all students the best provision possible. Having five Heads of Year instead of four Heads of House builds capacity for school leadership and also means that each year team is much smaller than the current house teams, allowing for more personalisation, better quality assurance of form time activities and quicker follow up to any incidents.
Some students will remain with their current form teacher, but clearly when restructuring such as this takes place, some students will lose their current form teacher as we cannot ensure everyone who wants to remain does so. We have selected pupils carefully, fairly and on a 'needs basis'. Safeguarding concerns, SEN and behavioural considerations were prioritised. We have also ensured that each form has an even distribution of boys and girls and different abilities. Friendship groups may have been affected by this redistribution, however since form time should be considered as a lesson in its own right we see this as an additional advantage to the restructuring.
In the days ahead, form teachers will be exchanging information with each other about the students now in their care to make sure we have an effective transition which builds on the partnerships we already have between school and home. For example, if your son or daughter has a support plan whether it be an EHCP or an IHCP for educational or medical needs and if Early Help Assessments are in place with Local Support Teams, new form teachers will be made aware of these plans. Any queries about new forms should be made in the first instance to current form teachers or the Head of House before the end of term.
Our Heads of Year will be as follows:
Year 7 Mr Williams
Year 8 Mr Charlesworth
Year 9 Mrs Welch-Moore
Year 10 Mr Rowley
Year 11 Mrs Dale-Drayton / Mrs Rowe
The move from houses to year groups will, in addition, mean that there will be a change of school tie. This will be provided by school to all current pupils in the latter half of the summer term in readiness for September. There will be no cost to families for this.
Easter School
During the Easter holidays, school is open to students in Year 11 for a range of Easter workshops and classes. These classes are designed to help students make the very best use of their time in preparing for the final ‘home straight’ in the run-up to their examinations in May and June. Time is of the essence and we would urge parents of students in Year 11 to encourage their children to attend and to support them with their revision. A copy of the Easter school classes is attached to this letter.
During the Easter holidays, we will be having new gates fitted to the front of school to improve the security of access to the site. This means that there will be no vehicular access during the holidays to the front of school. Students will be able to enter school via the pedestrian entrance next to the Lodge. Vehicular access at the Sparch Hollow entrance is unaffected.
Consultation on changes to lunchtime and the School Day
Thank you to parents and carers who have responded to the consultation on the split-lunchtime proposal and changes to the school day. We are in the process of collating the responses and addressing any issues raised. We will write to you again shortly after the Easter break to confirm final arrangements.
Parents’ Forum
We are currently re-establishing our Parental Forum. This is a group which will meet approximately once a half-term to consider school-related issues and make suggestions for developments. We already have a number of parents who have expressed an interest in being part of this group and we are very grateful for their support. If you would be interested in joining them, please contact .
Farewell and Thank You
At the end of this half term, we will be saying ‘farewell’ to Miss Mottershaw who will be leaving us as she is embarking on a life-changing experience and is going to teach abroad. We would like to thank Miss Mottershaw for all that she has done for the students at Wolstanton and wish her the very best of luck in her future career.
Welcome
As you are aware from previous letters, an additional Deputy Headteacher has been appointed and will take up post after Easter. Mr Moore is very much looking forward to joining the team and to meeting you all.
We would like to wish all of our families a safe, enjoyable and relaxing Easter break. We look forward to welcoming our pupils back to school at the normal time on the 24th April.
Yours sincerely
Mrs J. Yarwood Mrs D. Farrent
Executive Principal Head of School
Easter Revision Timetable 2017
Date / 9.30 am – 12.00 am session / 12.00 – 2.30 pmSession
Monday 10th April / Geog Gn / Geog Gn
Tuesday 11th April / English CN French Tr / English CN
Wednesday 12th April / RE HJ Girls group / RE HJ Boys group
Thursday 13th April / Design and Technology JC English AM / English AM
Tuesday 18th April / Science dept Music Wh / Science dept Music Wh
Wednesday 19th April / RE Lt Music Wh / RE Lt Music Wh
Thursday 20th April / Music Wh French Tr Maths / Music Wh Maths
Friday 21st April / Spanish OL Maths / Maths
Please note there will be no facilities for pupils to purchase food on site.
Students are to enter the school by the outside door via the art rooms at the front of school and to sign in with their teacher in charge of the revision session.