Good afternoon,
Looking back at the last few months, I am delighted with the great start we have had to the academic year. All year groups have settled incredibly well and are enjoying life at Landau, and we are particularly impressed with our Year 7 cohort – our largest ever – as 260 students have made a fantastic start to their secondary school careers!
We are delighted to announce that, once again, Landau Forte College achieved the highest Progress 8 score across all secondary schools in Derby City. The Progress 8 score for the College is +0.6, placing us in the top 15% of schools in the country. Progress 8 measures how well students of all abilities have progressed, compared to students with similar academic starting points in other schools in England. Our students achieved the highest progress scores across Derby City in English, Mathematics, Science and the English Baccalaureate subjects of History, Geography and Modern Foreign Languages. This is a remarkable achievement and something that I hope brings pride to every member of the Landau community. Well done and thank you to our fantastic students, their families and our dedicated staff team.
As you will know, we take great pride in how smart our students look in their uniform. I am so pleased to see the vast majority of our students wearing their uniform with real pride, but unfortunately there are times when some students do not adhere to the uniform policy. The full uniform policy is available on our website – Dress Code – and this makes it clear that students are not permitted to wear false eyelashes, acrylic nails/nail extensions, or facial piercings to College. Students are permitted to wear one pair of stud earrings and a wristwatch only. We will continue to challenge and put sanctions in place for students who do not follow our uniform policy as this is unfair to the majority of students who do follow the rules. We also ask that students do not wear their coats inside the building as this is linked to site security and ensuring we can easily identify students and visitors.
It has recently been announced that Monday 8 May, 2023 will be a bank holiday to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III. Therefore the school will be closed on this date and the term dates have been updated accordingly Term Dates 2022-2023.
Landau Forte Enrichment Fund – Making a difference to our students’ lives.
I am delighted to announce that we have recently launched the Landau Forte Enrichment Fund to ensure we can support all our students in accessing our wide variety of enrichment activities, trips and visits.
At Landau Forte College we put our students at the heart of everything we do. Our students travel to us from their homes across Derby, with over 50% of them coming from the most deprived wards in the city. We know that due to the global pandemic the last two years have been incredibly difficult for many of our students and their families. Families have found money tight, and the increasing cost of living crisis is only making the situation more challenging. We want all our students to be able to access high quality enrichment activities and exciting off-site visits. We firmly believe that all our students should have the opportunity to experience visits that enhance their taught curriculum and enrichment activities that develop new skills and broaden their horizons. If you feel passionate about helping us to do this for our young people, please do consider whether you are able to donate via the following link Landau Forte Donations Page or on our fundraising page on our website. This will make a difference to children’s lives and means they will be able to access new opportunities. We are incredibly grateful for any amount that you are able to offer and completely understand if this is not viable at this point in time. We are also contacting all of our suppliers and local businesses to see if they would be happy to support the Landau Forte Enrichment Fund.
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to a few key dates during the next weeks of term:
- We are very excited about our upcoming Winter Fair, which will take place on Saturday 3 December, from 11am until 4pm. We look forward to welcoming lots of you to our annual festive event where we will have over 50 stalls showcasing a large variety of products. Our extremely popular Santa’s Grotto will also return for those magical moments, which including crafting activities for the children, a gift, and a printed photo with the big man himself! We look forward to welcoming lots of you to this magical event!
- Christmas lunch will be served by the College’s Executive Team on Thursday 15 December and will cost £2.40.
- On Monday 19 December we will be holding our Winter Warmer, an extravaganza of music and dance! Tickets are £2 and available via Parent Pay.
- The last day of term, Tuesday 20 December, will be a non-uniform day in support of the Landau Forte Enrichment Fund. Students can pay £1 in cash or via the following link Landau Forte Donations Page to support this worthwhile cause. Our students will be performing Christmas songs at breakfast and lunchtime to ensure all the Landau Community is in the Christmas spirt!
- Tuesday 20 December is the last day of term and the College will close for the winter break at 2.45pm. The College will reopen to all students on Wednesday 4 January at 8.20am.
We wish all our students and their families a very positive end to the term. Please do contact me directly via the PA to the Principal, Miss Walendziewski, [email protected] , if you have any questions or need any support with the cost of uniform/ trips/ visits etc. We hope to see you at our Winter Fair!