PRINCIPAL's BLOG - 20th January 2023

NATIONAL ATTENDaNCE AWARDS

Welcome to my weekly blog and I hope you and your families are well and have had a good week.

Following on from the information that I shared in my blog on 6th January regarding attendance during term 1, I am pleased to share the news that Lordswood Boys' School has been awarded two National School Attendance Awards by the Fisher Family Trust (FFT).

As seen below, the first award places our school in the top 10% of similar FFT Secondary Schools in England for the Autumn term and the second award places our school in the top 25% of all FFT Secondary Schools in England for the Autumn term.

This is a brilliant achievement and testament to the values that parents/carers place in ensuring your son is in school every day and supporting our constant pursuit for superb attendance.

Thank you for your commitment and continued partnership.

Last Friday, we hosted 90 Harborne Primary School students as they participated in our primary engagement programme. Students experienced Sport and Music workshops, a tour of the school as well as joining us for breakfast. It was great to see the students gain an insight into 'Life at Lordswood' and to really enjoy their time with us. We received amazing feedback from Harborne Primary (see below) and we look forward to further developing our partnership with local feeder schools.

"We had a great morning at Lordswood Boys' School. Everything was really well put together and it was wonderful to see the Boys' showcasing their talents including some old pupils. It gave our children a great experience of the opportunities that are available to them at secondary school and also the experience being inside one. Mrs Lowndes-Ford and Mr Janes didn't a brilliant job of engaging the pupils and getting them excited about their subjects. It was really well organised and put together and we would love to establish more of a link with the school."

Additionally, today, we have City Road Primary School with us. Their Year 5 students and staff are visiting Lordswood Boys' School to experience life in secondary school, too. The students will be taking part in Music and Sport based workshops as well as touring around the school and having breakfast in the refectory with our amazing and supportive Lordswood Primary Ambassador student teams.

If you have any questions relating to the details above, please use the contact details below:

• Mr Deeks, Lead Professional for PE, j.deeks@lordswoodboys.co.uk

• Mr Janes, Director of Sport, d.janes@lordswoodboys.co.uk

Music Ambassadors

On Thursday after school, we interviewed 12 Year 7 students to join the Music Ambassador team. The interviews were led by three of our Head Ambassadors.

All students were really impressive and as a result, we will be running a two week trial for all of these students so they are given a fair chance to try out the role.

Well done to the students who took part.

Term dates 2023/24

The new academic year may seem like a long way off, however, it is important that parents/carers know when we return to school after the Summer holiday this year and the calendar dates are for the following year. Please see the details below:

Autumn Term 2023

Term Starts: Friday 1st September 2023

Half Term: Monday 23rd October to Friday 3rd November 2023

Term Ends: Friday 22nd December 2023

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE OCTOBER HALF TERM IS A TWO WEEK BREAK.

Spring Term 2024

Term Starts: Monday 8th January 2024

Half Term: Monday 12th February to Friday 16th February 2024

Term Ends: Friday 22nd March 2024

Summer Term 2024

Term Starts: Monday 8th April 2024

Half Term: Monday 27th May to Friday 31st May 2024

Term Ends: Monday 22nd July 2024

INSET DAY: Friday 1st September 2023

BANK HOLIDAY: Monday 6th May 2024

I hope you have a good weekend and I look forward to updating you with more news next week. Until then you can always contact me directly at: l.williams@lordswoodboys.co.uk

Mr. L. Williams,

Principal,

Lordswood Boys' School.