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Update from the Head Teacher:

Dear Parents and Guardians

As the school year draws to a close I wanted to write to you one final time to share my reflections on this monumental year.

Forrest Gump is one of my all time favourite films of all time and I feel very strongly that one of the lines from this resonates with the experiences we have had this year. The line appears twice in the movie. Initially it is when Forrest is sat on a bench talking to an old lady whilst waiting for the bus to see his sweetheart Jenny. The second is the scene where his mother passes away. The line spoken on both occasions is as follows.

‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never quite know what you’re gonna get.’

This could easily be applied to the last year at Longdean. We arrived back in September all geared up for the challenge of another year and the real possibility of an Ofsted inspection under a new inspection framework. This visit materialised in November and we collectively pulled together and overcame this challenge. For me, having done three inspections as Longdean’s Headteacher it is the Ofsted I am proudest of. We do everything that the new framework despises but we do it for the students so that they have the best opportunities in lessons and outside of the classroom. This in turn means they have choices available to them when they leave. The students, along with you as parents, told the inspectors all of this and Ofsted agreed. This was a real endorsement of our values and ethos as a school community.

We approached Christmas very buoyant. The school show, Annie, was a huge success and we were ready to move the school forward in the New Year. Year 11 and Year 13 prelims had gone well, Year 7 had a term of Secondary School under their belt and everything else was ticking along nicely. We had begun our post Ofsted planning and had identified six areas to move forward on. We were also introducing some curriculum changes and larger amendments to our school day and pastoral structure. We had worked out how we would introduce these ready for September.

Then Corona Virus happened and we were given 24 hours to turn ourselves from a very good school into a virtual learning environment whilst providing on site education for key workers in our school setting.

Since March 20th our classrooms and corridors have fallen silent. We have transformed ourselves almost overnight from a traditional school to a provider of remote education. Person to person teaching, assessment, feedback on essays, prelims and working at grades has been replaced with Teams lessons and Show My Homework or email. We have done this to a high standard and students have bought into this and engaged wholeheartedly. I would also like to commend your hard work as parents. At the same time that we became a virtual learning environment, you became teachers as well as parents. This has been a huge challenge and I am incredibly grateful as well as impressed at how successfully you have combined these multiple roles.

Sadly, we have not been able to join together as a full school community in the way that we would usually do either formally or informally and those anecdotal, yet important interactions between staff and students and students with each other have had to take place in another way. Students have had the security of a caring, nurturing, stimulating, learning environment taken away from you. Students in Year 11 and Year 13 have had those memorable moments about leaving denied to them and we have all, students, parents and staff faced the challenges of Centre Assessed Grades with the uncertainty of results day still to come. We will do all we can to celebrate leaving school with you on results day.

For those of you who have children in Year 7 I am sorry that they have had their first year of Secondary School so seriously disrupted. My biggest regret since March is that I have not been able to find a way to get Year 7 into school in some way before the summer. The start of Secondary School is a rites of passage moment for all young people and one that should bring excitement to all of them. The group had settled really well and were beginning to shine. They will now have to do it all again. Please don’t worry, the teachers and I will be with them every step of the way.

We have all lived our own stories and experience in lockdown. All of these experiences are very real and of equal value to anyone elses. It is worth noting that no matter how hard it has been for us it has always been harder for someone else. Some of us have had to grapple with free school meal vouchers and food banks. Some of us have struggled with a lack of equipment or space to study and the insecurity of furlough. Some families have sadly experienced bereavements. Whatever your lockdown story, your family is important to us and we will be there for you when we return in September. If there is anything we can do to help, just ask.

In this challenging environment all of our school community has come to the fore. We have delivered over 1300 visors and other items of PPE to hospitals, GPs, dentists, schools, hairdressers and other members of the local community. We have taken part in virtual sports days, attempted world records, written to NHS workers and engaged in film clubs.

Since June 15th we have been back, sort of, but it still does not feel like our school. Sanitising, keeping rigidly 2 metres apart from friends, being taught in a group of 10 in one room and having food delivered to classrooms is now deemed normal. We have imposed a one way system and our school has enough stickers to look like a crime scene or something from a zombie apocalypse film. We are currently preparing again for everyone to return in September. To what and for how long, who knows? I will let you know our detailed plans in the middle of August but I assure you that all students will be back, full time, from September.

During these strange times one of the highlights of my days in school has been welcoming the students when they come into school and to see them smiling, laughing and joking with each other. Schools should be filled with the voices and laughter of young people interacting and it is good that some of this is returning. The other is the incredible maturity the students have demonstrated in the way they have carried out their education regardless of their own personal contexts and challenges. The qualities that are the hallmark of our school have seen us through this most challenging of times. Resilience, empathy, integrity, professional and personal pride, honesty and a sense of humour will also ensure we come back stronger from this experience. I will write to you in August to inform you of your child’s new form group, Director of Year and Pastoral Manager and I am excited to tell you below about the new staff we have appointed and those who are leaving us. I have detailed these below.

New Teachers	New Support Staff	Longdean staff who have taken on a new role
Miss Fielding – PE	Mrs Clarke – Business Support	Miss Doyle – Trainee Teacher English
Mr Pischedda – Geography	Mr Evans – Technician	Mr Towler – Trainee Teacher Tech
Mr Vivian – PE	Miss Callaghan – Teaching Assistant	Mrs Reynolds – Inclusion Cordinator
Mr Zarrooq – Science	Miss Hales – Teaching Assistant	Mrs Chapman – Business Support
Miss Scamans - Geography	Mr O’Brien – Teaching Assistant	Mrs Downes – Cover Supervisor
Mr Horrigan – Performing Arts/English	Miss Ezzu – Teaching Assistant	Miss Elms – Director of Year 10
	Miss Devine – Teaching Assistant	Mr Coot – Assistant Headteacher
	Miss Mills – Teaching Assistant	Miss Keith – Director of Post 16
	Miss Eaton – Office Administrator	Miss Plumb – Director of Year 9
	Miss Lee – Office/Repo	Miss Lilley – DOL Geography

As always we have some colleagues leaving us and we thank them for their work at Longdean as well as wishing them good luck in the next exciting chapter of their lives. Leavers are Mrs Segal, Mrs Badea, Ms Ardley, Mrs Whalley, Mr Milani, Mrs Milani, Ms Rodriquez.

And finally for this final bulletin of the year. For your unwavering support of our school, your stoicism and perseverance this year I thank you. This year and especially the time since March has reinforced to me what a great student, staff and parent body we have. This has undoubtedly been the hardest experience in my professional life, yet I have never felt I have been alone at this challenging time. All of us, whether we are non-teaching staff, back office staff, teaching colleagues, parents or students have stepped up when asked to do so. It is this attitude, that means we can look forward to the future with a degree of confidence. As the title of the survey you have been completing says, we will ‘build back better’. We must all take responsibility for shaping this future and making it what we want it to be. I will end as I often do with a quote. This time from Abraham Lincoln who said. ‘The most reliable way to predict the future is to create it.’

I hope you all have a wonderful summer and a well earned rest. I look forward to seeing many of you and your child on results day and working with you again from September.

Best Wishes

Graham Cunningham

Headteacher

Mental Health and mindfulness whilst in lockdown:

At Longdean we recognise that it can be a struggle being locked up all day with your immediate family whilst trying to juggle work with supporting those around you. I hope the points in the table below might help.

Wellbeing

Set boundaries ✋🏽

Set boundaries. If you have the space, devote somewhere in your home specifically for work, ideally with a desk, supportive chair and good lighting. Clearly communicate the start and finish times of your ‘office hours’ with the people you live with. Of course, staying focused and distraction-free while working from home can be especially tricky for those with children. If you can, try to prearrange with others in your household when each of you can take charge of the kids – perhaps you and your partner can work two hours on, two hours off? If you are unable to share parenting responsibilities, speak to your manager and team to make them aware of any hours you will be ‘offline’ and with your family.

For those of you still in school the same applies. Ensure that you communicate effectively with your team as I am sure you will have depleted staff numbers and your typical school day has changed majorly

Prioritise ⭐

Prioritise the tasks that actually matter for that day. Be clear in your mind on what the key areas of focus are that day. Focus on these only, and communicate any urgent priorities with your team, ensuring they are realistic.

This will ensure you’re all collectively working towards the same aim and concentrating on the right things, whilst also not being overwhelmed by the work needed to be completed in the days and weeks ahead.

By keeping your task list to one day’s activities only, it will also give you a greater sense of achievement at the end of the day, making it more likely that you will log off at a reasonable hour and enjoy your evening

Be mindful of the time ⌚

Don’t let your working hours overrun. Be disciplined in leaving your home office when your working hours are over, at least on some nights of the week, and don’t go back in until the morning!

It can be especially tempting for many people to ‘put a bit of work in’ late at night, especially as stresses and pressures are intensified. However, this could come at the cost of disrupting your sleep schedule and depleting your energy levels the following day.

Switch off 📴

Switch off your work phone if you can. If this isn’t possible, at least limit yourself to only checking your work emails once or twice in the evening.

You should also be logging out of Skype or any other chat or messaging functionality that you may have on your machine.

As much as its important to stay social, it’s also important to switch off at times to allow yourself to recharge and find your inner zen!

Don’t be afraid to say no ❌

Don’t be afraid to say no. In these changing times, your priorities and areas of focus might shift, almost on a daily basis. That’s why you need to have the confidence and conviction to say ‘no’ to tasks that aren’t going to help you or your business achieve what’s truly important right now.

Habitual over-workers can be ‘people pleasers’ and this is something I find so common within education! We are all caring people and love the job we do.

You need to learn the art of graciously saying no if certain tasks threaten to overwhelm you, and simply aren’t a priority. If an extra task or two really does need to be taken on, try to be realistic about what you can do in the time that you have during your main working day, perhaps offering a partial solution in the meantime.

Take a break! ☕

Don’t skip your lunch break. Don’t eat from your desk!

If you can, have a space that is nowhere near your desk for eating, or go outside for some fresh air, while respecting your local authority’s guidelines on social distancing. This will enable you to ensure your lunch break feels like an actual break, and in turn, will help you to feel more motivated when you resume work in the afternoon.

Relax 💤

Take time for yourself. It’s crucial to enable your mind to understand that you are no longer working.

Do some exercise, take up a relaxing hobby, spend quality time with your family or housemates or cook a nice meal. I have found cleaning and sorting through that dreaded municipal kitchen drawer to be very therapeutic!

In short, whatever you can do that is different to work, and ideally in a different room to your ‘home office’. Make this consistent, and it’ll become a signal in your mind that the workday is over.

Positive thoughts = positive outcomes 💪🏻

Try not to dwell on the negatives. You may be overworking to avoid paying too much attention to the crisis that is going on around us. So instead, try to focus on the positives in your life and what you have to be grateful for.

Consider what you can do around the house that you’ve been meaning to get to or catching up with friends and family remotely.

In short, there are always things that you can do to distract yourself and use your time in healthy and productive ways during this outbreak, rather than overworking.

Online Learning Links:

https://www.thenational.academy/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

Show My Homework and ICT systems access:

Students don't need to log in to Show My Homework to access homework. All homework is visible from the open calendar at https://longdean.showmyhomework.co.uk .

This is accessible from any web based device – phone, tablet, PC or Mac without a password. All work from all teachers and all classes for all students are searchable without log in.

Some resources that are copyrighted and activities are only available after log in.

Students can log into the app or the website using their school Office 365 details, which is their school e-mail, such as This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and their usual school password. They should select the Orange Office 365 button on the app or the website. They do not have different usernames or passwords to forget - it is their usual school computer log in!

The most common issue is where students are going to the default SMH page rather than https://longdean.showmyhomework.co.uk .

For access to other ICT systems such as Office 365, Microsoft Office and Ranger Outpost please visit our website here, and for educational content click here.

Communication with the school:

Please continue to communicate with the school over the weeks ahead using school email addresses in the format below:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For pastoral issues please contact your child’s Pastoral Manager or Director of House

For subject queries please contact your child’s subject teachers

For any social or financial issues arising from Corona Virus please use the new email that we have established: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

I would also encourage parents to share these email addresses with their children so they can speak to us directly if they are anxious or concerned once the school has closed. We have retained the services of our school counsellor who will be available once the school has closed should she be needed.

We will also use the SIMS APP and the website to continue to keep you updated with events and we will use Show My Homework to set work for your children.

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