Dear Parent/Carer

I would like to remind you all that non-school staff vehicles are prohibited from entering the school car park, especially during the start and end of the school day.

If you are dropping your children off please park on the main road outside and away from the school gates themselves. A large number of our learners access the site either on foot or on bikes at this time of day and there is an increased risk of accidents with the traffic we are currently experiencing.

The school has CCTV covering the whole site and dangerous driving will be identified and reported as appropriate.

Access is only permitted to taxis or those parents/carers supporting learners with access issues.

Thank you for your understanding,

Julia Fitzgerald
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