Lostock Hall Academy

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Latest News

7th February 2012 - GCSE Results Comparison

Average GCSE points score for Lancashire in rank order.
England average: 278.1
Lancashire average: 286.2

I am delighted to announce that the school was in the top third of all Lancashire Schools based on 5+ A*-C GCSE grades, including English and Maths. A Summary of the South Ribble Schools is provided below:

Hutton Grammar School - 79%
All Hallows RC High School - 78%
Balshaw's High School - 65%
Penwortham High School - 65%
Lostock Hall Academy - 63%
Leyland St Mary's High School - 61%
Priory High School - 58%
Tarleton High School - 53%
Brownedge St Mary's RC High School - 51%
Wellfield High School - 41%
Walton-le-Dale High School - 34%
Worden High School - 34%

Mr D A Lowe
Headteacher

30th January 2012 - Calling all years 10/11 for Maths!

Below are details of the Mathematics Revision lessons for KS4 Unit 2 examination which will take place on 5th March 2012.

Yr 10 Set	Yr 11 Set	Teacher	Day &Room
1	1	Mrs McDonald	Wednesday H2
2	2	Mrs Archibald	Wednesday M4
3	3	Miss Sharples	Wednesday M2
4		Mr Thexton	Wednesday M1
	4	Mrs Noone	Wednesday M5
5	5	Mr Stott	Wednesday M3
6	6	Miss Sharples	Tuesday M2

26th January 2012 - Parent/Carer Survey

Thank you to all the parents who responded to our electronic survey. I should like to respond to some of the issues raised.

What parents/carers see as strengths:

Discipline
Care and guidance
Friendly and approachable
Extra- curricular activities
Good communication with parents
Listening to parents

What parents/carers feel could be developed

Quicker response to parent concerns or questions
Communication
Improved condition of buildings
Governing Body involvement
More social events for pupils
Drainage of school site

Response from the Headteacher

Any parent/carer who does feel that responses are not quick enough should contact school to make the point. There will always be a person available to speak with parents/carers. However, it must be understood that staff are often teaching and cannot be disturbed during lessons. Personally, I was disappointed to note that it was claimed that I have been guilty of not responding to letters or emails. I can honestly say that I have never deliberately failed to respond and I am not aware of occasions when members of my senior leadership team have not responded.

In terms of communication we offer text messages, email and weekly newsletters. I am aware that pupils do not always give parents/carers a copy of the newsletter. This normally goes to parents on a Monday so please ask your child for a copy. It is also on the school STAR website and emailed to parents. We are looking to distribute it by email only in the future.

We have made several improvements to the buildings through our own funding. I am pleased to say that we are currently submitting a bid for capital funds to remove the external wall tiles and replace windows and roofs.

Several governors are heavily involved in the life of the school and give up a great deal of time. However, this is something that the governing body will discuss. It should be pointed out that most governors work full time and therefore can only attend evening events.

We often ask pupils if they would like more social events but the response is frequently negative. However, we will ask again at the School Council. What I will say is that the range of extra-curricular activities is fantastic and all pupils are encouraged to become involved.

The drainage issue has been addressed and should no longer be a problem.

Thank you for making the effort to complete the survey.

D A Lowe
Head teacher

5th January 2012 - Oliver! Poster Design Competition

Congratulations to Jessica Wilcock for winning the Poster Design Competition for the school's production of Oliver that takes place this February. Well done to Kennedy Stanley, Edward McLean, Tyler Hilton and Lauren Johnstone who also took part in the competition.

Oliver! Poster

5th January 2012 - Creative & Media Diploma Exhibition

exhibition room

Congratulations to the Creative and Media Diploma group: Matthew Barker, Chelsie Cheadle, Tom Galland, Cassiem Graham, Rebecca Molyneaux, Jodie –Lee Straker and Danni Verity, for organising and staging a fantastic showcase event at Wellington Park, Leyland, on Tuesday evening.
The event was attended by School governors, teachers, and representatives from the colleges as well as artists, family and friends, all of whom joined together to celebrate the hard work and talents of the pupils involved.
The showcase featured a wide selection of outstanding work, such as painting, photography, graphic design and film. The pupils also entertained their guests by offering a number of musical pieces throughout the evening and through the organisation of a raffle, which raised over £100 for the two chosen charities, The Army Benevolent fund and Make a wish Foundation.
All of the guests commented and praised the pupils on their hard work, talents and professionalism in organising such an enjoyable and memorable event. The pupils really were a credit to the school.

christmasconcert

23rd November 2011 - Academy Developments

I should like to bring you up to date with Academy developments.

For the first time in many years the school is receiving a fair and appropriate amount of funding. Over the years other local schools have received a higher level of funding per pupil. This was a result of the way the Local Authority distributed funding through its formula. Despite the lack of funding we have still managed to achieve outstanding results, maintained the buildings to an acceptable standard and also maintained good staffing levels.

The school is now independent and is funded directly by central government. However, we still receive our budget ‘share’ through the Local Authority, but in addition we receive the funding which the Local Authority retained for central services from which we are required to pay for services from the Local Authority such as payroll and legal advice. After paying for these services we have managed to develop a budget which means for the first time in years we have some reserves which will be invested in improving the school’s facilities for your children. The Governing Body has never carried a surplus because funding has always been spent on pupils.

You may have heard people saying that academies are taking funding from other Lancashire pupils. This is totally untrue. For many years children attending other schools have received more funding than your children who attend Lostock Hall Academy. You are taxpayers and your children deserve to have the taxes you pay spent on their education.

This year our budget was reduced by £85,000 by the Local Authority through changes to its formula. Because we have become an academy, we have been able to limit the impact of this reduction and still maintained a healthy budget.

I hope that this makes the situation clear and I object to what some people, particularly the unions, are saying about academies stealing money. The fact is, we are finally receiving a fairer share of the Local Authority budget.

Yours sincerely

D A Lowe
Headteacher

23rd November 2011 - Industrial Strike Action

We have been informed by the NUT, NASUWT, UNISON, UNITE and GBM that they will be taking industrial action in the form of a strike on 30 November 2011.

This action is not against the school itself but is part of national industrial action organised by these trades unions about changes to the pension schemes of their members.

There is no requirement on unions to inform us of which members of staff will take action and it may be that they will not know themselves as there is no obligation on members of unions to obey a strike call. However, I am aware that a large number of staff will be taking strike action and therefore we will have no alternative but to close the school to all pupils with the exception of Year 11 pupils who will be sitting trial exams on this day. These exams include: PE, Single award ICT and Biology. It would be unsafe to open the school for other pupils because of a lack of staff availability.

I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Mr W Pitcher
Chair of Governors

LOSTOCK AT THE TATE

GCSE Art and Design and Applied Art pupils enjoy a yearly visit to the Tate gallery, Liverpool as part of their introduction to the course. Pupils enjoyed the opportunity to engage first hand with original and diverse artwork from the major 20th Century art movements and genres. Pupils will use this experience to inspire the development of their own artworks.

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