February 2013 - Littleover Community School

A Letter from the Government
We were pleased to receive the following letter from the Minister
of State for Schools.
It is good that the work of the school has been recognised at
national level. I would like to thank parents and carers for their
support in ensuring that standards at Littleover Community School
remain very high.
Mr A Venkatesh - Headteacher

Update on Building Development at LCS
Phase 1
The building of Phase 1 is progressing well and is still on schedule. The construction company
has been on site since November and has now created a builders compound, temporary
walkways and a temporary car park. In January all excavation and drainage work was
completed and the main floor slab and retaining walls installed. The block work is well
underway (photographs below). We can now be described as being officially “out of the
ground”. We are expecting the building to be completed and handed over in August this year
ready for the start of term in September.
Recap of How Phase 1 Will be Used
Downstairs will house the new base for Littleover 6 th Form including common rooms, ICT study
rooms, offices and toilets.
Upstairs there will be 6 teaching bases (allocation:- 3 Humanities, 2 PSHE, 1 Maths) a further
office and meeting room.
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Phase 2
The planning for Phase 2 is well underway, after consultation with both the Student Council and
the Humanities Department. We are anticipating submitting a planning application in March this
year. We hope the building of Phase 2 will commence in October 2013 and will principally be a
new Humanities block, bringing together the main Humanities subjects under one roof. It will be
a 10 classroom 2 storey construction, built into the bank at the back of school, behind the main
hall. In addition it will also provide much needed indoor pupil social space, extra toilets and
offices.
These are indeed exciting
times and we look forward to
giving you more detailed
Information about the design
of Phase 2 and the progress
of Phase 1 in the next
newsletter.
Mr C Simmons
Assistant Headteacher
Schools Privacy Notice
When pupils leave the school at the end of Year 11, we want to make sure that they all go on
to play a useful role in society. For many years, we have been proud that every single one of
our leavers has gone on to further education, employment or training. As part of ensuring a
smooth transition from school, we may sometimes need to share information with other
agencies e.g. careers advisors, other schools, colleges or training providers. I can assure you
that we will only share whatever information is necessary to help the pupils, and that we take
data security and privacy seriously.
If you would like to read our full ‘Schools Privacy Notice’, agreed by all Derby City schools, it
is available on the school website in the ‘Information for Parents’ section. Please ask me if
you would like more information about this issue.
Mr A Venkatesh
Headteacher
3

Recently, the Art Department has enjoyed success within a range of National Art Competitions.
During the summer, Katherine Smith, a recent graduate from our A Level Fine Art course, won
the prestigious ‘Peak District Young Artist of the Year’ competition with work she submitted for
her A Level coursework. This is a National Competition that receives entries from artists
between the age of 16 and 19, with finalists having their work exhibited at the Great Dome Art
Fair in Buxton.
We have just heard that several Year 9 pupils within the Talented Art Programme have received
National and County Awards from the UK Children’s Fine Art Competition. Lillie Fitzsimons has
won the Runners Up prize within the Secondary Schools section (this is particularly impressive
given the fact that this competition is open to entrants up to Year Eleven), as well as winning the
Derbyshire County Award. Two other students, Abigail Gledhill and Farah Rashid, were awarded
the Runners Up prizes within this division. This is a fantastic achievement and a credit to the
pupils.
Closer to home, the Art Department seized the moment and launched a snow sculpture
competition which produced some very imaginative entries. After much deliberation the twenty
pound prize money will be split between Maya Rooney and her ‘Snowlar Bear’ and sisters
Aniqah and Zainab Bhatti with their Elephant snow sculpture. Many thanks for your creative and
highly skilled snow sculptures that included monsters, cars and exploding volcanoes.
Mr D Ashman - Co-ordinator of Creative Arts
Easter Revision
Over 100 Year 11 pupils have been invited to attend revision
sessions that will take place during the Easter holiday on Thursday
11 th April. The revision is specifically aimed at those pupils who are
predicted A* or A grades in the subjects being offered. This event has
been running for several years with extremely positive feedback from
both pupils and staff.
Change of Name for the NAGC
The National Association for Gifted Children has a new name, ‘Potential Plus UK’ with the
strapline ‘Discover, Nurture, Succeed’. This group emphasises the importance of parents and
the vital role they play in nurturing talent and giftedness, encouraging perseverance and hard
work and ensuring that their children can reach their full potential. The website is
www.potentialplusuk.org
The Dux Award Scheme
Gifted and Talented News
This Government initiative recognises and rewards high achieving and hard-working Year 9
pupils. It aims to ‘encourage higher aspirations by funding one or two Year 9 pupils from each
secondary school to visit a Russell Group university during the summer term, accompanied by
a teacher from their school’. I shall be discussing this opportunity with the Year 9 pastoral
team over the next few weeks.
Mr D Bisset - Co-ordinator of Gifted and Talented
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Derby City Trampoline Competition
Twelve dedicated trampolinists from various year groups took part in the Derby City Trampoline
Competition in January, with the maximum four students allowed participating in each of the
three levels of competition. A set routine, a number of set skills and an optional routine all had
to be performed to give three separate scores which were added together to give a total. The
top two competitors in each level for both City East and City West go through to the County
Finals in March.
Step 1 saw Jade Taylor (Year 7) compete confidently to win Step 1 with
Evie Whitten (Year 7) and Olivia Toon (Year 7) being joint 2 nd . However,
with only two performers allowed through to the County Finals, Evie made
it through as she scored higher on the optional routine. Sophia Robinson
(Year 9) also competed for the first time and came 4 th .
In Step 2, Amy Whitten (Year 10), Eleanor Barraclough (Year 10), Tabby
Blood (Year 7) and Tamara Morgan (Year 7) all performed consistently
well with Amy scoring two whole marks higher than her nearest rival
to take first place and Tamara, despite originally being a reserve for
this competition, taking the second place in the team for the County competition.
Eleanor and Tabby came 3 rd and 4 th respectively.
Francesca Britten (Year 9) competed in Step 3 again this year and once again produced a
polished performance to take first place by two whole marks. Katy Phelps (Year 11) moved up
from Step 2 last year to compete all three sections in Step 3 very well to take 2 nd place. Both
girls will compete in the County Finals. Lucie Betteridge (Year 7) and Abby King (Year 7) both
gave creditable performances, especially considering that this was their first competition and
they were competing at the hardest level as the youngest competitors. Lucie came 3 rd and Abby
came 6 th . Very well done to all!
Miss C Jeffries - Teacher of PE
CONTACT DETAILS
Please can you ensure that we have up to date contact details for you, including email
addresses and mobile phone numbers.
Dates for Your Diary
Thursday 28th February - Year 10 Parents’ Evening, 4.30-7.00pm
Thursday 7th March - World Book Day
Thursday 14th March - Year 7 Parents’ Evening, 4.30-7.00pm
Tuesday 26th March - Year 12 Parents’ Evening, 4.30-7.00pm
Pupils’ break up on Friday 15th February and
return to School on Monday 25th February at the normal time.
5

News from the Languages Department
Ten Year 12 students of A Level French together with Mrs Cowie and Mrs Williams went
to Paris to the annual “Your Future in Europe” conference on 31st January. During the visit we
attended the conference in French with speeches and debate on such varied topics as tourism
at Tour Montparnasse, French cooking and healthy eating. We got the chance to learn more
about European issues from Shami Chakrabarti from the human rights group Liberty and Dragon’s
Den presenter Evan Davies who talked us through the Eurozone crisis. Students found
the talk on Erasmus programmes for studying in Europe particularly interesting . During our 4
day trip we also managed to pack in some sight-seeing around the city. We travelled so often
by metro that students considered themselves expert metro-surfers by the end of the trip! We
took in the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d’Orsay with its famous impressionist collection, Montmartre
and Sacré Coeur. We made sure we got plenty of walking practice too walking from the
Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe - a long way! The students all enjoyed the trip and had plenty of
opportunities to improve their linguistic and cultural knowledge.
Mrs G Cowie - Co-ordinator of Languages
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From Thursday 31 st January to Sunday the 3 rd February 38 students and 4 members of staff
spent 4 days in Madrid. The weather was dry and sunny, and we certainly made the most of it.
As soon as we arrived we began our Spanish adventure. Due to a delayed flight we could not
go to The Reina Sofia Art Museum, so we went straight to our ‘workout’ where we all learnt how
to dance the Flamenco and then we replenished with a tapas tasting menu to really get a feel for
Spanish life!
We spent the next day with our pen-pals in our partner school in Madrid, Santa Eugenia.
Students went to lesson with their pen-pal and then played a bi-lingual game of word searches
before heading off to the local shopping centre for a game of bowling.
The final full day was spent outdoors visiting the Bernabéu Stadium, the Zoo and Aquarium. For
many of the students it was also their first experience on the underground and we all
managed to get safely from A to B. In the evening, after dinner we packed for our journey home
the next day after three fun
packed days in the Spanish capital.
Miss Paul
Teacher of Languages
7

Young Performers’ Evening: Thursday 30 th January
Thea Bathurst Yr 7
32 students from Year 7-9 took part in this year’s very
successful Young Performers’ Evening. Whilst some of
the students playing had some experience of
performing, a good number of them had never
performed to a public audience before and this evening
gave them the opportunity to perform in a supportive
environment.
The standard of performance was outstanding and a
most enjoyable evening was had by all. Congratulations
to all of the students involved.
Sinfonia Viva Project. January – March 2013
On 29 th January, 36 musicians in Years 8 and 9 spent
the morning at the Roundhouse meeting the leaders of
this year’s Sinfonia Viva project. They took part in a
number of workshops in preparation for the weeks
ahead.
Sinfonia Viva are the East Midlands’ leading
professional orchestra. They do a lot of work in
education and, this year, LCS is lucky enough to be
involved once again.
The students’, through the guidance of James
Redwood, the project leader will, with members of the
orchestra, compose a section of a larger work that they will perform at the Assembly Rooms in
March. This is a very exciting opportunity for our younger students. It will be a fabulous
experience.
Mrs C Birchall -Teacher of Music
Nicholas Davies Yr 8
Toby Morgan Yr 8
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Raising Money for shelterBOX
At the end of a series of lessons on natural hazards, Year 10 Geography GCSE students
studied how aid has been used to help people in countries hit by disasters. They investigated an
organisation called shelterBOX UK. They send boxes of equipment to areas in need. Each box
will support a family with a tent, food and other life saving equipment when they have been
displaced or made homeless by a natural disaster.
A small group of students decided that they would like to raise money to buy a box. They
decided to run a food stall during break and lunch, selling homemade cakes, samosas and
sweets. In just one day they collected £263.00.
We now have the number of our box and will be able to trace it and find out how and where it is
deployed.
shelterBOX UK were thrilled with our donation “We are proud of the way our young
supporters get involved with our disaster relief work and are extremely grateful for their
continued contribution”.
Well done and thank you to all the Year 10 Geographers involved.
Mrs Birds
Head of Geography
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Summary of Forthcoming Overseas and Overnight Trips
(Feb 2013 Update)
To help parents plan and budget for expensive school trips, we have put together this summary of any overseas and
overnight trips currently planned for the next two years. There will also be several one day trips which are listed in the
school calendar (see the school website - www.littleover.derby.sch.uk).
If you have any queries about trips please contact Mrs Bunting.
Dates Trip / Subject Year groups Cost Letters going out and Other comments
first payment date
14 – 17 th Feb History trip to Year 11 £450 Sept 2012 Full
2013
Berlin
15 th -24 th Feb Ski Trip to Italy Year 9-13 £880 March 2012 Full
2013
21 st – 23 rd Geology trip Year 12 £110 Late Jan 2013
March 2013 3 days
approx
March and
July 2013
Gold DoE
practice and real
expeditions
Year 12 £250
approx
Students already
enrolled on DoE
programme
Gold DoE
programme full
March and
September
2013
May and July
2013
17 -19 th May
2013
14-16 th June
2013
12-15 th July
2013
Oct 2013
Oct 2013
Oct 2013
Feb 2014
Bronze DoE
practice and real
expeditions
Silver DoE
practice and real
expeditions
Netball weekend
Condover Hall
Activity weekend
Condover Hall
French trip to Le
Touquet
Geology Trip to
Arran
Geography trip
to Iceland
German trip to
Munich
History trip to
Berlin
Year 9
£50 approx
Year 10 £170
approx
Students enrolling
now
Students already
enrolled on DoE
programme
Silver DoE
programme full
Years 7-10 £140 June 2012 A few spaces for Year
7 pupils
Year 7 £120 Mid Sept 2012 A few spaces
available
Year 8 £296 Oct 2012 Spaces available
Year 13
Current Year 12
Years 10-13
Current Years
9-12
Year 10 & 11
Current Year
9 &10
Year 11
Current Year 10
£480
approx
£850
approx
July/Sept 2013
Jan 2013
£445 June 2012
Letter to Y9 Feb 2013
£480 Sept 2013
Spaces available
Spaces available
Feb 2014
Feb 2014
June 2014
July 2014
Feb 2014
Feb 2014
Ski trip to
Bormio, Italy
Creative Arts trip
to a European City
(replacing NY trip)
Activity Weekend
at Condover Hall
French trip to
Le Touquet
Spanish trip to
Madrid
History trip to
Berlin
Years 8-13
Current Years
7-12
Years 10-13
Current Year 9-12
£899 Sept 2012 Full, but
reserve list open
£600
approx
March 2012
Year 7 ( current
Year 6 pupils)
£130 Mid Sept 2013
Year 8
£300 Oct 2013
(current Y7)
Yr 9 (current Yr 8) £480 May 2013
approx
Yr 11
£480 Sept 2013
( current Yr 10)
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