Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Headteacher Letter
Tue 07 Nov 20237 November 2023
Dear Parents and Carers
I hope that this letter finds you, your friends and family in good health.
I would like to thank you all for your support during storm Ciaran. The school remained open throughout thanks to you, your children and our staff. I feel that as a community we managed the required changes in routines and expectations well.
Saturday 4th November saw the return of our Silent Disco. Thank you to all of you who attended, I hope you had fun. I would just like to thank members of the Friends of Laleham Gap both staff and parents who helped organise and supervised this event. Proceeds taken will go towards the Friends of Laleham Gap who will decide how this is spent for our children.
Thursday 16 November 2023 is our first coffee morning of the year. The theme will be pupil use of mobile phones in school. As per my letter of 5 October 2023, we are still waiting for further DFE guidance to be published. Your views on this subject are important so if you can come along, it would be great. This will take place in the TISS building at 9.00am, coffee and cake will be supplied. If you are unable to attend, but you would like your point of view represented, please email (secretary@lgs.kent.sch.uk) them to me so they can be shared with other parents and carers at the coffee morning.
Hope to see you there.
Best wishes
Les Milton
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Headteacher Letter
Thu 05 Oct 20235 October 2023
Dear Parents and Carers
I hope that this letter finds you, your friends and family in good health.
I am currently reviewing the use of mobile phones by pupils in school. You may be aware of a government announcement this week by the Education Secretary Gillian Keegan stating that mobile phone use should be banned in schools across England to improve behaviour. This is the Department for Educations response to the Unesco Global Education Monitoring Report. I will not implement changes to our routines and expectations until the DFE releases updated guidance for schools. For those interested, please see the links below for more information about this topic.
https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/2023/02/19/smartphones-in-schools/
Please note that there are few completed research projects on the impact of mobile phones on pupils’ wellbeing in the UK. To my knowledge, there is no research based on pupils in special educational needs schools.
When the DFE guidance has been released, I will be asking for your opinions and support in implementing the changes which we will need to make.
I intend on this being the theme of our coffee morning on 16 November 2023 at 9.00am in TISS building. Hope to see you there.
Best wishes
Les Milton
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Headteacher Letter
Fri 28 Jul 202328 September 2023
Dear Parents and Carers
I hope that this letter finds you, your friends and family in good health.
Thank you to those of you that made it to our annual cheese and wine evening on Wednesday 20 September. It is always good to spend some time with you. A big thank you to Mr Parkin for sharing his expertise around annual reviews. We will be having a parents coffee morning on 16 November. I will be in touch nearer the time with full details, if you have suggestions for topics or themes to be discussed please let me know.
Tomorrow, Friday 29th September is a Culture and Community Day. We are exploring the cultures of Australia, New Zealand and surrounding islands as well as raising awareness about the impact of Plastic Pollution in our oceans.
On this day, instead of usual lessons, all pupils will be invited to participate in practical learning about the sport, traditions, animals, and way of life on land and in the waters of Oceania.
Gentle Reminder, Term 1 for pupils ends on Wednesday 18 October and pupils return on Monday 30 October. Staff training will take place on 19 & 20 October.
Best wishes
Les Milton
Headteacher
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Summer Support for Children and Families
Wed 19 Jul 2023Dear Parents and Carers,
As we draw close to the end of a successful school year, many of you will be preparing for days trips, holidays and family visits.
However, we wanted to acknowledge that this can also be an anxious time for lots of our children, young people and their families and we are ever aware that big changes for our children can have a significant impact on their wellbeing and mental health.
We know that many of our children and young people rely heavily on school support, which is naturally unavailable during the holiday periods. In preparation for the summer holiday, we have therefore produced new safeguarding flyers which sign post the most relevant services that you can turn to for help, should you require support during the school break.
These flyers have a new look and reflect the latest advice and guidance available from the Local Authority, Education Safeguarding Service and Education Psychology Service. Parent and child flyers can be found by visiting the Summer Support 2023 page on this website.
Please note, we will be encouraging all our staff to rest and recharge over the summer holiday ready for the new academic year. It is, therefore, important to remind you that we will be unable to support with any urgent requests or concerns during the holiday period. We will still be periodically checking e-mails, but our flyers contain contact details for other agencies that are more appropriately placed to support outside of school.
Our school website also has wealth of useful information, including details about the ‘Local Offer’, useful links, crisis lines and information about how to make mental health referrals via the ‘Single Point of Access’. Please visit our Wellbeing pages to find out more.
The information for the Single Point of Access and the Crisis Lines can also be found on the school’s home page on the ‘Pupil Wellbeing’ tab.
All Secondary aged children have been sent a copy of the child version of the summer support flyer, along with a digital copy of the Kent Youth County Council ‘Mental Health Friends’ booklet to their school e-mail address.
If you have any urgent issues you wish to discuss before the close of tomorrow, please contact us via the usual channels. Otherwise, we wish all families within our school community a wonderful and successful summer, and we will look forward to working with you and your children again in September.
Kind regards
Mr J. Payne
Assistant Headteacher - Safeguarding & Wellbeing
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Dad smash their fundraising target
Mon 05 Jun 2023Read all about how Shane Elmer and Richard Holden conquered the demanding one-day 100 mile FORD Ride London-Essex challenge on Sunday, May 28.
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Immunisation team is coming
Wed 08 Mar 2023
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Headteacher Letter
Thu 15 Dec 2022Please click here to view a letter from the Headteacher or go to the letters page of the website.
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Lunch Menu and Christmas Menu for the Last 2 Weeks of Term
Thu 01 Dec 2022Please click here to see the lunch menu for the last 2 weeks of term or go to the school meal page and lunch menu icon.
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Christmas Letters
Fri 18 Nov 2022Please go to the school letter page of the website to view Christmas letters posted home.
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Anti - Bullying Week Letter - Nov 2022
Fri 11 Nov 2022Please click here to view a letter about Anti-bullying week or go to the letters page of the website.
