LANGLEY SCHOOL A SPECIALIST COLLEGE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS,

LANGUAGES AND TRAINING

Tel: 0121 706 9771 WEBSITE: www.langley-sec.solihull.sch.uk

Friday 14 September 2012 Langley School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and

expects all its staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Dear Parents and Care Givers

GCSE examination results 2012

Congratulations to our outgoing Year 11 students, who have achieved the best

results Langley has ever had:

• The ‘gold standard’ of 5A*-C including English and Maths was 71% - the highest

result ever for Langley School!

• 82% of students gained 5A*-C not including English and Maths

We are delighted for our out-going Year 11 students; we thank them for being such

fine ambassadors for our school and wish them every success in the next stage of

their education.

Open Evening / Open Morning – important information!

We would like to give you notice of our Open Evening and Open Morning. These

events are for parents of current Y6 students considering their child’s secondary

school for September 2013. Please note that on Thursday 20th September students

will leave school at 12.35pm. Lunch will not be available that day, but those

entitled to a free school meal will be credited with this for morning break.

Open Evening

Thursday 20 September - 6.30 - 8.30pm

Open Morning

Friday 21 September - 9.00 – 10.30am and 11.00 – 12.00 noon

Academic Mentoring/ Review Mornings

At Langley we run a successful programme of 1:1 academic mentoring. Each

year group is invited to a 1:1 meeting with a staff mentor to focus on the student’s

academic concerns or issues - thanks to the support of other students and parents.

This year, the Review Morning for Year 11 students will take place as follows:

• Year 11 students will be given an allotted time to meet their mentors

between 8.40 - 9.25am on Monday 24 September

• All other year groups, ie Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 will register with form tutors at

9.30am on Monday 24 September. Thank you in anticipation!

“Dear Parents or Guardian

A Bright Future for our Children

The children at school in Solihull consistently perform above the national average

at Key stage 2 and Key stage 4. This is no doubt due to the high quality of

education on offer along with the positive support and engagement of parents

and carers such as you.

I hope you’ll agree that we all believe in giving our children the best opportunities

in life and the key to high levels of attainment is a high level of attendance. It is

with this in mind that I write to you about family holidays in term time. These are

difficult times for everyone and many people will be suffering financially, but I must

remind parents and carers that the government guidance on holidays in term time

is that they should be granted only in exceptional circumstances. A ten day

holiday in term time will reduce a pupil’s attendance by at least 5%, which will

affect both their attainment and school routine, and on behalf of the Local

Authority I will therefore fully support Headteachers who refuse to authorise

absences in these circumstances. If you consider that your circumstances are

genuinely exceptional then please discuss your plans with the school before you

go ahead and book so that you are clear whether or not the absence will be

authorised.

Also, I need to let you know that the government has raised the level of fine for a

penalty notice issued in relation to poor school attendance. As of the 1st

September 2012 the fine will rise from £50 to £60 per parent per child and from

£100 to £120 if paid after 28 days but within 42 days. This is a national change

which we will have to apply in Solihull and I’m glad that this won’t affect most of

you, because as we have already seen most of our children are doing well in

schools that are well supported by parents and carers. However, you should be

aware of significant changes introduced by the government.

Thank you for supporting your children and your children’s schools to do the best

they can. Let’s keep working together to ensure the brightest possible future for all

children in Solihull. “

Vanessa Bishop

Director of Children’s Services, Solihull Authority

Trip to the Tate Modern in London

“On Tuesday 17th July the Dead Good Science Club travelled to London to visit the

Tate Modern and – more importantly – the Damien Hirst exhibition. Damien Hirst is

an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector and his art mainly is intertwined

with dead organisms. For example, he used a preserved dead shark with its mouth

open to evoke fear into the viewer. Our club is specifically interested in his

butterfly art, known as Cathedral and Psalm prints, as we are attempting to either

replicate or extract our own ideas from the artwork. The rest of the Tate Modern

which we explored highlighted the fact that artwork should not be taken at face

value; there should almost always be an inconspicuous meaning”

Holly Malin, [now 9E]

Dear Parent

ELECTION OF PARENT GOVERNOR

I am pleased to inform you that there are two vacancies for Parent Governors at Langley School for

a four year period. Although you must have a child at the school at the time of the election, you do

not need to have a child at the school throughout the four year period. It should also be noted that

no individual may be a governor of more than two schools.

All parents over the age of 18 are eligible to stand for election and to vote, with the exception of:

I. Those who are elected members of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

II. Those who are employed to work at the school for more than 500 hours in an academic year

III. Those who are ineligible [as detailed within the application pack]

If you would like more information on the rôle or to put your name forward, please contact my PA,

Mrs Hannah and an application pack will be sent to you. The application forms will need to be

completed and returned to me, to arrive no later than 4pm on Friday 28 September 2012.

It may be that you would wish to propose another parent to serve as a parent governor. Please note

that in this case the parent in question should complete the nomination form after you have

discussed this possibility with them. If it is necessary to hold an election, I will provide further

details of the arrangements in a later newsletter.

Mr P Talbot

Headteacher

Congratulations!

On Thursday 19th July the following students [now Year 8], successfully completed

an overnight camp supervised by Mrs K Beck, Mr J Edwards and Solihull Extended

Services staff – and gained the prestigious John Muir Environmental Award:

Declan Shiel Yousef Ali Bradlee Fletcher Joe Oakes

Cameron May Andrew White Matthew Leadbetter Harry Peate

Harry Lloyd Tom Abbott

“Book of the Week”

This is a new initiative in Langley School; posters on the English floor and in the

Library provide a summary or review of the book – and if students are interested,

they might like to pick up a copy from Mrs Beck in the Library. This week’s book is:

“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again” by Frank Cottrell Boyce

This is the first ever sequel to Ian Fleming's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", written by

bestselling author Frank Cottrell Boyce and endorsed by the Fleming family. When

the Tooting family find a vast abandoned engine and fit it to their camper van,

they have no idea of the adventure that lies ahead. The engine used to belong to

an extraordinary flying car - and it wants to be back on the road again...fast! The

Tootings can haul on the steering wheel and pull the handbrake as hard as they

like, but their camper van now has a mind of her own. It's not long before they're

hurtling along on a turbo-charged chase as Chitty tracks down her long-lost

bodywork. But there are sinister forces at work too. When it comes to a car as

special as Chitty, everybody wants a piece of her...

‘Science in My Mind’ …. Art and Science beautifully linked.

A new display has been created for Science by the pupils of Langley School. In

Science classes at the end of term pupils designed and completed wooden

plaques with their thoughts of Science. This is the first of a number of displays using

their ideas. Well done to all involved! Mrs C Watton, Science Faculty

Science News

Birmingham University offer a series of lectures. They generally start at 7pm-ish and

are held at the Poynting building [with parents welcome too]. Please look for

details on www.facebook.com/groups/student.ioptalks

Tuesday 2 October Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

Tuesday 16 October Do we understand Nuclear Matter?

Tuesday 30 October The Square Km Array [a radio telescope]

Tuesday 13 November Superfluidity – quantum mechanics you can see!

Tuesday 27 November Christmas lecture:

Molecular Gastronomy – the science of taste and flavour

[NB – tickets required for the Christmas lecture – please book with Mrs Watton.]

Yours sincerely

Mr P Talbot

Headteacher