Dear Parent/Carer

I would like to invite you to attend our Sixth Form Progress Evening at Lliswerry High School Thursday 18^th January 2024 from 3.30pm to 6.30pm to discuss your child’s progress and how best to support them in Sixth Form.

The school is using an online appointment booking system. This allows you to choose your own appointment time with your child’s subject teachers and you will receive an email confirming your appointment(s). Any feedback on this system is welcome.

Appointments can be made from 9am on Friday 15^th December 2023 and will close at 2pm on  Thursday 18^th January 2024. Should you wish to make any changes after this date please contact the school office.

Please visit https://lliswerryhigh.parentseveningsystem.co.uk to book your appointments. (A short guide on how to add appointments has been sent out.)

Login with the following information:
Learner’s First Name: Your child’s first name
Learner’s Surname: Your child’s surname
Learner’s Date of Birth: Your child’s date of birth

If you do not have access to the internet, please contact the school office who will be happy to add appointments on your behalf.

Yours sincerely,
Ms S Lewis
Head of Sixth Form

Dear Parent/Carer,

It is with great sadness that I write to you today to inform you that a member of our school staff, Miss Reynolds, passed away over the weekend. Miss Reynolds was a highly valued member of our maths team and also our Deputy Director of Sixth Form.

Miss Reynolds was an outstanding colleague and friend and, as I’m sure you can imagine, we are all shocked and devastated by her loss. She cared deeply about all of our learners and always went the extra mile to do whatever she could to support them.

I have informed staff and learners this morning and support will be available for anyone who may need it. I am sure that your thoughts, like ours, will be with Miss Reynolds’ family and friends at this very sad time for our whole school community.

Yours sincerely,
N Davies
Headteacher

Dear Parent,

The School Health Research Network is led by Cardiff University in partnership with Welsh Government, Public Health Wales and Cancer Research UK. Every two years, schools in the Network are invited to take part in the Student Health and Wellbeing Survey. The information collected in the survey is used to compile a Student Health and Wellbeing Report for each school, which supports their work to improve their students’ health and wellbeing.

Your child’s school is taking part in the Student Health and Wellbeing Survey this term. The survey is being managed by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Cardiff University and is completed on-line under the supervision of a member of school staff. It contains questions on health behaviours, including diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol, drugs, school life and relationships. Students in Year 10 and above only will be asked a small number of questions relating to sexual behaviour. Each student chooses whether or not they want to complete the survey and they can omit any question they do not want to answer.

At the end of the survey students are asked to give their name, date of birth and postcode. This enables researchers to connect students’ responses across different rounds of the two-yearly survey, in order to investigate how and why health and wellbeing change through adolescence. It is made clear to students that they do not have to provide this information if they do not want to and, if given, it will only be seen by a small number of researchers at Cardiff University and Ipsos MORI.

All data will be treated in accordance with the Data Protection Act (2018) and the General Data Protection Regulations, and you can read our data privacy notice here: www.shrn.org.uk/gdpr/ or contact Matt Davies at shrn@cardiff.ac.uk or 029 2087 4433 to request a copy. The survey is strictly confidential unless a student response raises concerns about their welfare, in which case we will notify the school’s safeguarding officer if we have the student’s name. Cardiff University use the survey data to compile the Student Health and Wellbeing Reports and for research into adolescent health. The Student Health and Wellbeing Reports contain only aggregated data, e.g. the percentage of Year 7 boys who eat breakfast daily.

I hope that you will be happy for your child to take part. If you have any concerns, wish to see the survey questions or withdraw your child from the survey, please notify school reception as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,
Professor Simon Murphy

Dear Parent/Carer,

As I will soon be stepping down as Headteacher of Lliswerry High School it was necessary to undertake a recruitment process in order to appoint our next Headteacher. This recruitment process took place over the course of the last month and was completed yesterday. It was extremely rigorous and the final stage involved members of the school’s Governing Body, staff, learners, senior Local Authority officers and the Deputy Director of the Education Advisory Service.

As a result of this process, I am extremely pleased to inform you that Miss Julia Fitzgerald has been successful in her application and will take up her new role as Headteacher from January 1^st 2024. Miss Fitzgerald is already working in Lliswerry as Head of School of course and it is fantastic that we will have the continuity this brings as I hand over the Headship to her at the end of this term. This is an excellent appointment for our school, as I have no doubt whatsoever that Miss Fitzgerald will do an outstanding job on behalf of our learners, our staff and our community as a whole.

Best wishes,
N Davies
Executive Headteacher

Dear Parent/Carer,

As you know there are many benefits of social media when used responsibly, offering an easy way to communicate and connect with people and access to a wide variety of online material. However, as we also know, when used irresponsibly it can cause significant problems and potentially put children at risk from the actions of others. This is relevant both in and out of school of course.

It is important to stress that most of our learners use social media safely and responsibly. Unfortunately, we continue to have to respond to issues in school caused by the online activities of a small number of learners, which puts them or others at risk and can create significant issues in school.

One of the most common challenges schools face is when learners post unpleasant, insulting or offensive messages on social media or engage in what could constitute cyber bullying. Occasionally, a learner may also use social media to incite other learners to undertake unacceptable behaviour (in or out of school). Sometimes these messages are sent privately or in a closed group online, but then get shared beyond the intended recipients. Unfortunately, the repercussions of these actions then impact negatively in school and can cause serious incidents when the people involved are in the same environment.

Your support in helping us to address this is greatly appreciated. As a parent of two teenagers I understand the challenges around supporting your child’s online activities, in order to keep them safe and in monitoring their responsible use of social media. The Government and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) have useful guides and links for parents and carers to support with this:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-keeping-children-safe-online/coronavirus-covid-19-support-for-parents-and-carers-to-keep-children-safe-online

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/social-media/

The UK Safer Internet Centre also provides helpful and practical advice at https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/parents-and-carers

These links tend to focus more upon helping to ensure that your child does not become at risk from the actions of others online. However, we also appreciate your help in monitoring their responsible use of social media platforms. Thank you for your support and understanding with this matter. If you would like any further advice or support in relation to supporting online safety, please don’t hesitate to contact us on admin@lliswerryhigh.org

Best wishes,
N Davies
Headteacher

Dear Parent/Carer,

I am writing to inform you that after just over six years as Headteacher of Lliswerry High School I will be standing down from my position at the end of this term. The Local Authority and school staff are already aware of my intentions and I will be informing learners in assembly next week. Therefore, it is appropriate that I should also inform you at this point. The recruitment process for my successor is about to get underway and the intention is that the successful candidate will take up their role at the beginning of January 2024. This will also be the end of my current role as Executive Headteacher of both Lliswerry and Llanwern High Schools.

I know that whoever is appointed will be very fortunate, as throughout the achievements and the challenges of the past six and a bit years I have had the honour of working with fantastic staff, supportive Governors and wonderful learners. I am also grateful to parents and carers who have given so much support throughout this time.

During the recruitment process and remainder of this term we will ensure that we do not allow the Headteacher recruitment process to be a distraction and we will continue to strive for improvement in all areas. I will update you on the outcome of the recruitment process in due course.

Best wishes,

N Davies
Headteacher
Lliswerry High School

Vaccination is one of the most important things we can do to protect children and young people against ill health. The Welsh Government and Public Health Wales have developed the following guide to vaccinations for young people. The guide explains when and how vaccinations are offered to young people in school years 7 to 11 (ages 11 to 16) and why they are so important.

Parents and carers are asked to read the guide. In addition, when each vaccination is due you will receive information from the school about the vaccination being offered along with a consent form. Please also read this information and return the consent form as soon as possible, so that your child receives the best protection they can have against these serious diseases.

https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/immunisation-and-vaccines/vaccination-information1/vaccinations-for-young-people/

As we start the new school year, we’d like to remind our learners about safety to and from school.

Whilst not every stranger is a threat of course, please speak with your child once again about the potential dangers a stranger could pose and about their safety to and from school.

Advise them not to walk on their own wherever possible and especially if it is dark. If your child feels threatened in any way whilst making their way to or from school (or outside of those times of course), they should call 999 and inform the police immediately.

The Schoolbeat.cymru website has advice on advising your child about ‘stranger danger’ (and many other topics also) https://schoolbeat.cymru/en/parents/know-what-could-affect-your-child/personal-safety/what-you-need-to-know/stranger-danger/

Mrs J Bartley
Acting Senior Assistant Headteacher