Dear Parents/ Carers,
As we come to the end of the academic year, I wanted to thank you for your continued support. This has been another fantastic year for LFCD, with so many great achievements, most notably the school securing our Ofsted Outstanding grading in March. This was a fantastic achievement and something everyone in the Landau Community should be very proud of. This is an incredibly busy term for us, with so many enriching events and activities taking placing including multiple Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, the Year 7 residential, Year 9 and 10 students visiting Germany and Year 12 students participating in work experience.
Ahead of the summer holidays, I wanted to share with you the arrangements for the start of the next academic year.
- The last day of term will be Friday 19 July and school will close at 1.30pm.
- Start of the new academic year:
- Y8, 9, 10, 11, 13 return on Thursday 29 August 2024
- Y7 start on Wednesday 04 September 2024
- Y12 start on Thursday 05 September 2024
Please find attached the term dates for academic years 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Leave of absence requests
This academic year we have received a significant number of requests for leave of absence and a significant amount of these requests have been submitted at very short notice. While we understand that due to the global pandemic many families have not travelled abroad to see relatives for some time, we would ask that travel abroad for significant periods of time is kept to the school holidays. Requests for leave of absence must be submitted at least 4 weeks before the date of the request and a request for leave of absence can only be allowed in exceptional circumstances. Any absence from school has a detrimental impact on a young person’s academic progress, as well as their social development.
Sports and Culture Week
The last week of term will be Sports and Culture Week. Lots will be happening during this week including reward trips and the visit of the ice cream van to provide all students with a free ice cream to thank them for their hard work this academic year! As in previous years, the week will focus on celebrating the Landau community’s cultural identities and many exciting events will be taking place throughout the week. This year the week will also include individual Sports Days for each year group and the Year 8 Musa Memorial Football and Netball Tournament for Year 8. Sports Days will take place on site and will focus on team games such as cricket, netball, handball and dodgeball. Students will be competing for points for their House and the winner of the annual House competition will be announced on Friday 19 July. We hope the change in format to Sports Day will be a positive one for our students and we will be focusing on participation and teamwork throughout the sports competitions. We will take feedback from our students before deciding on the format of Sports Day for next academic year.
On the following days students need to attend in their PE kits to enable them to participate in their Year group sports day:
Monday 15 July – Year 10
Tuesday 16 July – Year 9
Wednesday 17 July – Year 8
Thursday 18 July – Year 7
On Friday 19 July, students can pay £1 to attend school in dress which best represents their cultural heritage or an outfit which best represents them. Money can be paid via ParentPay or in cash on the day. The money raised from the non-uniform day will go to the Landau Forte Enrichment Fund, which has funded the external visitors for Culture Week. At lunchtime there will be a range of food stalls from which students can purchase food including Caribbean dishes, south Indian dosas, Lebanese wraps, fish and chips, pizza, crepes, and galettes. The Restaurant will serve a full hot brunch menu during breakfast service and at lunchtime the Restaurant will sell sandwich ‘grab bags’ only. The free school meal allowance will be uploaded to students’ accounts from 8.15am on this day, ensuring students can purchase a hot meal at breakfast. We will also be issuing any students eligible for free school meals with a voucher to use at the lunchtime food stalls. The vouchers will be available to collect from reception at lunchtime.
As always, thank you once again for your continued support this academic year. If you have any feedback or questions on any issues raised in this letter please do contact me via Miss Walendziewski, [email protected]
We wish all our students and their families a restful and peaceful summer break.
Kind regards,
Alison Brannick