Welcome to the final newsletter of 2018-19. This has been an exceptionally busy year in school, and this newsletter is a celebration of some of the fantastic opportunities and experiences our learners have taken part in over the past term. As always our learners have demonstrated our core values through their active participation, and I am certain that they have developed a range of new skills, which will support them as they continue their educational journey with us.

Our learners continue to amaze us and make us exceptionally proud on a daily basis, and all of the opportunities they are provided with would not be possible without the ongoing hard work, commitment and dedication of our staff. I know you will join me in thanking them for another action packed year in which learner success and engagement have been clearly visible in every aspect of school life.

As a school, we have much to be proud of regarding what we have achieved over this past academic year – I shared with you earlier in the year that we were delighted to firstly achieve the Leading Parent Partnership Award, as well as being recognised as a Flagship School for Inclusion. Our Class of 2019 approached their final exam period with a real sense of purpose and maturity and it was lovely to reflect on their 5-year journey with us in their Leavers’ Assembly and Year 11 Prom at the end of June. We look forward to sharing in all of their successes and achievements on results day in August, and wish them every success and happiness as they leave us for the next stage in their education or training. It was a pleasure more recently to welcome our Class of 2024 for their induction period – 180 eager young learners spent three days with us learning about life at Longdendale; our core values and competencies; and experiencing a range of lessons and enrichment activities to support a successful transition from primary school. We were extremely proud of the professional way in which they approached their induction, and in particular of the confident and respectful way they presented their learning to their families during the celebration afternoon on the last day. We look forward to the next five years with them.

Over recent months, we have been working collectively across the AspirePlus Educational Trust to develop a new approach to the curriculum for our learners in Years 7-9, and to provide opportunities for our more senior learners in Years 10 and 11 to choose from a broader range of courses to suit their individual needs. We will share much more about this with you in due course, but it is a really exciting time for the school and in particular for the dynamic and engaging learning experiences we strive to provide for all of our young people across all areas of the curriculum.

In school we have had a particular focus on promoting and further developing a culture of mutual respect across our whole school community. I would particularly like to thank our families for their support with this – since introducing our new policy on mobile phone use in school, we have seen a significant reduction in them being used inappropriately in school. Clearly this has had a hugely positive impact on the learning environment and the running of the school day, and it is only extremely rarely that sanctions have to be issued as a result of mobile phone use. Alongside this, our learners have responded very positively to the expectations we have regarding how they conduct themselves both in and out of lessons, and how they demonstrate respect to each other and to all members of our school community. As a result we have seen a significant reduction in learners making poor behaviour choices both in lessons and during unstructured times. They are always such great ambassadors for our school, and their professional and respectful with visitors to the school, and when they go out on trips and visits, this is something that is always commented on by members of the wider community. We are exceptionally proud of our young people and it is a real privilege to work alongside them and see them flourish as mature, respectful and responsible citizens.

Thank you for your ongoing support – we value and appreciate the partnerships we have with our families and recognise the role they play in the continuing success of our learners and the school. We wish all of our learners and families a happy and healthy summer. Please enjoy reading the rest of this newsletter and we look forward to working with you in the new school year.

Andrea Jones