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Headteacher Letter

Tue 11 Feb 2025

11 February 2024

Dear Parents and Carers

Subject: Limits on Mobile Phone Use by Year 8 Pupils

I am writing to inform you of an important change to mobile phone use for all Year 8 pupils. From Monday 24 February year 8 pupils will not be able to access their mobile devices during the school day. They must hand in their devices on arrival and collect upon leaving the school building. The devices will be kept in a secure box during the day. This change, which is an extension of our Primary and Year 7 approach, is designed to protect children and reduce the risks presented from social media. It is also designed to improve pupil wellbeing and attendance.

As you will have seen in the media there has been an increasing debate about mobile phones in schools since the Government issued its guidance earlier this year. There is a lot of concern about the amount of time pupils are spending on mobile phones, the distractions that this causes in school and the very real dangers of social media. Since September we have had to deal with a growing number of issues regarding pupils’ misuse of mobile phones, with the most recent resulting in police action. We have therefore reviewed our approach to mobile phone use.

I would like to take this opportunity to explain the new expectations for your child in year 8 which is the same as for Primary and Year 7 pupils. This means that your child’s devices will be available for transport and in case of emergencies but will be handed in at reception and stored securely until the end of the day. If you need to contact your child during the school day, please ring the school office and we will be able to get a message to them.

We appreciate your support with this matter.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Les Milton

Headteacher

Headteacher Letter

Thu 23 Jan 2025

23 January 2025

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that this letter finds you, your friends and family in good health.

I can’t quite believe we are halfway through term three. I would like to thank you all for ensuring your children are at school, on time and ready to learn each day. Your support is very much appreciated. When I walk around the school, I can see pupils working hard and engaging in their lessons.

Mr Parkin has been busy having careers meeting with all our year 10 pupils. This is a great opportunity for our pupils and families to meet with an experienced careers advisor and discuss future education and career opportunities.

We have welcomed a new Sports Coach to our community this term. Woody has been working with our primary pupils for some time, through Inclusive Sport and it is great to now have him join us. Even though the weather is not on our side, I can see lots of team sports taking place in the gym daily. Woody will also be running some after school clubs, more news on this will come out shortly.

Our Drama club each Wednesday after school have been working very hard putting together their performance for Shrek the Musical. Watch this space for ticket information.

Yr10 and Primary parents, today is the last day to book in for parents evening next Monday 27 January via Helen at helen.rowan@lgs.kent.sch.uk or 01843 570598.

Dates for your diary

Monday 27 January – Year 10 and Primary Parents evening

Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 February – Drama Club performance of Shrek the Musical

Friday 14 February – Wellbeing Day

Wednesday 19 March Parent Coffee Morning

Further information about these dates will be sent out in the coming weeks.

Best wishes

Les Milton

Headteacher

Headteacher Letter

Fri 20 Dec 2024

Dear Parents / Carers

I trust this letter finds you, your family and friends in good health.

We have had a very busy week at school with lots of great Christmas events taking place. Including, primary and secondary Christmas Faye’s, Santa’s wrapping room, and Fantastic Christmas Lunch for all.

Great news, our Wrapping Room and Christmas Fayre’s raised £1898 for the Friends of Laleham Gap Charity.

Primary Carol Concert Wednesday 18

Thank you to all who attended and supported on the day. The Children performed superbly, and I can assure you that the pupils and staff thoroughly enjoyed the rehearsals and shows. It was a very Christmasy affair enjoyed by all. It was great to see so many families supporting the show and enjoying our Christmas festivities.

The Secondary Talent Show took place today. As always, an amazing array of talent was on show. Many thanks for all those pupils that participated. These events are a great chance for our children to show off their hidden talents. A great chance for pupils and staff to have festive fun.

Support Services available duirng the Christmas break

Re: Winter Support 2024

We hope you are all looking forward to a wonderful Christmas with your families. However, we know that this can be a stressful time of year for some and wanted to acknowledge that this can also be an anxious time for lots of our children and young people. 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 Christmas break, we have therefore reviewed our 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. Please find the flyer attached to the e-mail that accompanies this letter.

Please note, as always, we will be encouraging all our staff to rest and recharge over the Christmas holiday ready for the New 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 https://www.lgs.kent.sch.uk/topic/wellbeing 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.

On behalf of all the staff at Laleham Gap, we wish all families within our school community a wonderful Christmas, and we will look forward to working with you and your children again in the New Year.

Post 16 Open Evening

On Thursday 9 January 2025 from 3.15-4.45pm, we will be holding our annual Post 16 Open evening. All families of year 10 pupils are welcome. Please look out for an email from Mr Ainsworth with full details.

Christmas Holiday Dates

The last day of term is today and the first day back for pupils is Monday 6 January 2025.

Best wishes

Les Milton

KsENT Parent Communication

Mon 09 Dec 2024

5th December 2024

Dear Parents,

As Headteachers and members of the Kent Special Educational Needs Trust (KsENT) we wanted to take the time to write to our families personally.

Many of you will be aware that Kent County Council is making changes across the education system that directly affect children with Special Educational Needs (SEND).

As Headteachers of Kent’s special schools we recognise the need for change and would welcome the opportunity for true collaboration to plan these changes ensuring they make the system better for all children with SEND.

We feel the Special School Review has failed to evidence:

- How children’s outcomes will be improved

- How the system will be prepared for the changes proposed (changes to buildings and environments, staff training and planning for special schools and mainstreams to work together)

- How the changes proposed are based on expert advice and an evidence base

It is with heavy hearts that we as KsENT Heads took the decision last week to instruct counsel in order to bring a claim in judicial review against the decision of KCC to proceed with the redesignation of special schools.

We have also instructed counsel to review the process by which this was achieved as we feel the process has been lacking in detail, evidence and true collaboration.

As special school Heads every decision we have made has been based on the children and families we serve, and we hoped to reach a middle ground where some of the concerns we have raised could have been addressed through sector wide co-production.

Furthermore, whilst we are supportive of the need for mainstream schools to be inclusive, these proposals come with no additional funding or resources to meet the needs of students with more complex SEND in mainstream schools.

As a group, we are united in our belief that:

The Special School Review consultation was not conducted appropriately, and is lacking in detail, evidence base and financial modelling
There has been little, or no work done towards properly preparing both Special Schools and Mainstream Schools for the changes proposed
The resulting provision will be discriminatory to certain groups of children and young people with SEND

We have therefore written to The Local Authority, Department for Education and Ofsted.

As a group of school leaders with the best interest of our students at heart, we believe that we have no choice but to do this. At every stage of the process, we have articulated our concerns clearly and requested the education system be brought together as a whole; these concerns and requests for collaboration have simply not been listened to.

We therefore view our action as not only necessary, but ultimately caused by the failure of KCC to address the issues raised.

We would like you to know that our priority will always be ensuring the very best education for our children and we hope this action will allow time for true collaboration and planning in the interests of your children.

Yours faithfully,

KsENT Headteachers

Headteacher Letter

Tue 19 Nov 2024

19 November 2024

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that this letter finds you, your friends and family in good health.

In my previous letters I have informed you of Kent’s Special School Review, Special School consultation and the potential impact for Laleham Gap school in the future.

The most significant issue is KCC’s proposal to change our designation from a Communication and Interaction school to a Neurodivergent with Learning Difficulties school. The new designation description is like that of Bradstow and Stone Bay schools. Also proposed is a change of Stone Bay to an identical designation as Foreland Field school. My view is that these proposals are illogical and do not take account of Thanet’s circumstances.

I cannot over state that there is no need for anxiety or concern for our current practice. These changes are proposed for gradual implementation starting from September 2026. My concern is for the long term and for meeting the needs of the most complex SEND children of Thanet and East Kent.

There is a Children’s Young People and Education Cabinet Committee meeting on Thursday 21 November 2024 at 2pm. This is where the decision will be made. You can use this link to access the agenda and papers relating to this meeting https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=894&MId=9492&Ver=4

I would like to draw your attention the supplement document items 6, 10 and 12, in particular pages 77-250.

I am most concerned about the following points:

The consultation feedback of 1345 responses show that 72% of respondents disagree with the proposed designation and admissions guidance
71% of education professionals disagree with the proposed designation and admissions guidance.
89% of responses completed on behalf of Special schools disagree with the proposed designation and admissions guidance
The proposal has no financial modelling
There is no data on pupil need
There are no projections for future pupil need

If the cabinet agree these proposals on Thursday, there is likely to be a formal consultation and representation period which will run for 4 weeks in January. If these proposals are agreed, I will be writing to you again to seek your support and collaboration on how we can best support the most complex SEND children and young people in Thanet and East Kent.

Yours sincerely

Les Milton

Headteacher

Headteacher Letter

Tue 05 Nov 2024

5 November 2024

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that this letter finds you, your friends and family in good health and that you had an enjoyable holiday last week.

Our next Parent Coffee Morning will be on Wednesday, 13th November at 9.00am, in the TISS Building. During this session, we will discuss how the school can further enhance support and communication with parents. We will start with a brief celebration of our current improvements before introducing the parent engagement award we are pursuing. We would welcome your feedback on how the school can better support parents in areas such as training, signposting of support, and communication to benefit all families in our community. If you would like to be part of this discussion or are interested in working with the school at a strategic level, please come along to find out more.

Next week, there are several national events taking place that the school will be participating in, including Anti-Bullying Week. Our Student Council is taking the lead on this and will be holding a meeting today (Tuesday, 5th November) to discuss how we will take part in these events. Additional information will be shared with parents following the School Council meeting.

The events being discussed are:

Monday, 11th November - Remembrance Day
Tuesday, 12th November - Anti-Bullying Week Odd Socks Day
Wednesday, 13th and Thursday, 14th November - Anti-Bullying Week Awareness
Friday, 15th November - Children in Need

Our Year 10 and 11 pupils will be taking their GCSE mock exams over the next two weeks. This is a great opportunity for pupils to experience exam conditions ahead of their actual exams next Summer. We wish them the best of luck and every success.

Yr11 Parents evening is on Monday 9^th December 2024. An invitation letter and arrangements will be sent to you in the next couple of weeks.

The Kent County Council Special School review outcomes will be shared this month. I will write to you again sharing the outcomes and any proposed changes as soon as possible.

Best wishes

Les Milton

Headteacher

Headteacher Letter

Fri 20 Sep 2024

20 September 2024

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that this letter finds you, your friends and family in good health.

The new school year is now well underway. Welcome to all our new pupils and families. It is great to see so many new pupils settling in well and familiar faces happy to return to school.

Our exam results day went very well this year. Congratulations to our pupils in Year 11, 12 and 13 for successfully achieving their qualifications.

School Uniform

All learners are expected to wear the standard school uniform unless there is a good reason to deviate from this.

We understand that some learners may experience discomfort with certain types of clothing due to disabilities or sensory sensitivities. In such cases, reasonable adjustments to the uniform will be allowed.

These adjustments could include:

• Different types of fabric

• Looser or tighter fits

• Different types of footwear

Any adjustments to the uniform will be considered on a case-by-case basis. This ensures that the specific needs of each student are taken into account. Parents/carers are encouraged to liaise with the school if there are any sensory difficulties.

Pick up and drop off

Parking on site can sometimes be an issue at the beginning and end of the school day due to the volume of traffic we have at the school.

Therefore, as parents/carers you are free to use the additional parking spaces at the TISS building and walk your children through the pedestrian gate into school at the beginning and end of the school day. Please take care when parking and walking into the school. There will be a member of staff on duty at the pedestrian gate so please ensure that you and your children follow the pedestrian pathway all the way around to the main entrance gate and not cut across the disabled parking bays.

Most days there will be places available to ease the current difficulty however, when there are training events taking place parking spaces may be limited. This parking is for parents only, KCC transport providers will continue to use the turning circle within the main school gates.

We would like to encourage as many parents/carers as possible to use these additional spaces in TISS to make it safer for your children arriving and departing school.

Dates for your diaries

Term ends on Wednesday 23 October 2024.

Parents coffee morning will be on Wednesday 13th November. Theme to be confirmed.

Yr11 Parents evening Monday 9 December.

Best wishes

Les Milton

Headteacher

Headteacher Letter

Fri 19 Jul 2024

19 July 2024

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that this letter finds you, your friends and family in good health.

As we come to the end of another school year, I want to thank the whole Laleham Gap School community for your continued support. Our pupils are at the heart of everything we do at LGS. I have had many proud moments this year watching our pupils Learn, Grow and Succeed this year. Our Year 11 pupil’s leavers day was one of these moments. I am pleased that so many of our Year 11 pupils are going on to some form of education or training. We wish them all the best for the future.

We are looking forward to our new pupils arriving in September. Reminder to parents, Year 7 pupils will be expected to hand in their mobile devices on arrival at school and collect them again at the end of the day. Please prepare and encourage you children to follow this procedure.

The Department for Education has changed the rules regarding holiday permissions. The document is called the New National Framework for Penalty Notices. The following changes will come in to force from 19 August 2024.

We want to make you aware that we will no longer be able to authorise any leave of absence requests for pupils from the 19 August 2024. This means any pupil taking holiday during terms time will be marked as unauthorised. My belief and approach to this has not changed but the rules have. If you think this is going to affect you, please let me know.

Special School review – Please ensure you have completed the consultation available at

Special Schools Review: proposed changes to designations and admissions guidance | Let’s talk Kent

In my previous letter I stated that my concerns included:

If learning difficulties and Neurodivergent are not defined accurately, how can we comment on the new designation?
Locally, will there be sufficient Communication and Interaction provision in new Specialist Resource Provisions to meet the need of our current pupils?
Why are the needs of our current pupils not fully detailed in the Equality Impact Assessment?
The consultation directs us to the sufficiency plan for pupil need but, there is no data regarding the proposed new designation.
Where are the cost projections for the building modifications required to meet the pupil needs of the new designation?

We have had lots of exciting events taking place recently. I would like to thank all staff, pupils and families who have made these possible and so enjoyable. Have a great summer and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Best wishes

Les Milton

Headteacher

Headteacher Letter

Tue 02 Jul 2024

2 July 2024

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that this letter finds you, your friends and family in good health.

The special school consultation www.kent.gov.uk/specialschoolsreview is unlikely to be updated further. I am asking that you respond to the public consultation as I believe your opinion is important. The link also has arrangements so you can join online meetings specifically for parents. I encourage you to attend one before completing the questionnaire. An overriding concern I have is that the consultation questions are very open, descriptive questions which you are unlikely to disagree with e.g.

8. KCC is proposing that the children for whom special school places are planned, are those who have both an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan and also have severe and complex special educational needs. Special school places would not be planned for those with lower levels of need that could be met through an adapted curriculum in a mainstream school.

To what extent do you agree or disagree that KCC should be planning special school places for those children who have severe and complex needs?

I think everyone is going to agree with this statement. I assume that is what KCC should be doing already. This is why the text box is important. I will comment that pupils with typical cognitive and academic ability can still have severe and complex special educational needs, which the designations in this consultation does not recognise.

I encourage you all to use the text box to express your answers in full.

My concerns include:

If learning difficulties and Neurodivergent are not defined accurately, how can we comment on the new designation?
Locally, will there be sufficient Communication and Interaction provision in new Specialist Resource Provisions to meet the need of our current pupils?
Why are the needs of our current pupil not fully detailed in the Equality Impact Assessment?
The consultation directs us to the sufficiency plan for pupil need but, there is no data regarding the proposed new designation.
Where are the cost projections for the building modifications required to meet the pupil needs of the new designation?

Reminder: don’t forget to place your vote for a new parent Governor using this link https://forms.office.com/e/JEKgTsXNCc or by hand in the main reception. The deadline is Thursday 4 July 2024.

Thank you everyone for your support with Pride Day on Friday 28 June. All the pupils had a wonderful day joining in with the Colour run. We also had an Awards Assembly for positive contributions to our community.

Thank you to all of you that supported the Friends of Laleham Gap Quiz night on Friday 28 June. We raised over £200 for the evening which will go towards FOLG funds.

Our Wellbeing team have been busy organising and attending various school trips with children including Thorpe Park, Betteshanger and Wildwood.

Summer event coming up in the next few weeks include:

Friday 12 July – Primary Summer Fair

Wednesday 17 July – Secondary Sports Day and Summer Fair

Term ends on Friday 19 July

Best wishes

Les Milton

Headteacher

Pride Day Event Letter

Fri 21 Jun 2024

June 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

Friday 28^th June is going to be an off-timetable Culture and Community Day to celebrate Pride in our identities. (This is also the Year 11 Leavers Day – including their off-site activities.)

The ‘Laleham Gap Pride’ event and colour run celebrates the diversity in our school community. The 2024 symbol is a rainbow fingerprint to include and celebrate all staff and students. The day has been designed by the pupils to celebrate what they take pride in and to nurture healthy self-esteem, acceptance and positive relationships. As a Unicef Rights Respecting School, we are passionate about Equality. There will be an Awards Assembly for positive contributions to our community.

Pupils will be invited to participate in practical activities and meet guests that celebrate Inclusion and the students’ hobbies– including Sport and the Creative Arts. Our Fun Run will include optional colour stations (where coloured holi powder will be thrown at participants to decorate their t-shirts). If pupils choose to participate in the Colour Stations, please be aware that there is a risk of their outfit being stained. It is recommended to wear a plain pale or white t-shirt/top. Sunglasses will be provided to those who want a pair and participation running medals will be given to everyone who completes the course – with or without the colour stations. Please provide a change of clothes to prevent issues with transport home – please contact the school if you normally use a taxi and choose to collect on this day.

All pupils are invited to wear their own clothes. School uniform is always permitted, but we suggest PE Kit due to the range of activities. Please can all pupils wear, or at least bring, trainers for sport activities.

As this is a weather-dependent event the timetable and activities may have to be adapted for Health and Safety reasons. Please sign and return the consent form attached to the main school office by Friday 21^st June. The day costs the school approximately £10/pupil, we are asking families for a voluntary donation of £4 to enable us to continue providing guest workshops and resources chosen by the students.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Ms Helen Schroepfer

Learning for Life Lead and Secondary School Council

helen.schroepfer@lgs.kent.sch.uk;

Please complete and return the below slip to the school office or email back to: office@lgs.kent.sch.uk

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………

Laleham Gap Pride Day 28.6.24 (Culture and Community)

I consent to ……………………………………………………………….. (pupil name) in ……………………………. (class) to participate in (please tick):