LCA-Homepage - Lincoln Castle Academy

2nd March 2022

It is with a great sense of pride I write to you after being appointed by Harbour Learning Trust as the new Principal of Lincoln Castle Academy. I am honoured to have been entrusted with the responsibility of taking the academy forward as its new leader and I am looking forward to the opportunity to meet you all in person.

I firmly believe all children deserve an outstanding education, and academies should be a champion for the students and the community they serve. My educational philosophy has been borne out of many years of serving the children throughout Northern England, ensuring they leave school well equipped for the next stage in their life. I continue to love the job of working with children where every day brings new challenges and opportunities.

I am very excited to begin my journey with the parents, students and staff where we will work together to ensure all students, irrespective of barriers, get the very best education; they leave the academy well qualified to seize the opportunities that come their way; and they are confident, articulate and resilient.

Creating an outstanding education starts with very simple things. Assisted by the Trust, I will ensure the teachers and staff are well skilled and supported to teach effectively, as well as providing plentiful opportunities to broaden students’ horizons. However, this is very much a partnership. As a parent / guardian, you can help support the school and your child with the basics. This starts with ensuring students maintain very good attendance: if they are not in school, they are not learning, and the more they miss, the bigger the barrier for them to overcome. The second is behaviour: I will expect to see students are polite, respectful, and are ready to learn and actively engage in lessons. The last is they are determined to keep trying: to never give up. They will face barriers, there will be difficulties, but a quiet determination and a 'have a go' attitude will breed success, both in the classroom and in the world of work. In short, I'll expect students to be there in the classroom, to engage in their own learning and to never give up on themselves. In turn, we will never give up on them.

As Principal, you can expect my staff and I to always make decisions based on what is right for your child and their life chances. I firmly believe in doing no less for your children than I would want for my own. You can expect me to be an advocate for your children, and I will expect you to challenge the academy to be the best for your children.

I look forward to joining Harbour Learning Trust and working with you all, continuing to forge those crucial, strong partnerships between home and school. Together, we will continue to build the strong culture of the academy and the success of our community.

Richard Hanson
Principal

30^th September 2021

Dear Parent/Carer

I am writing to remind you about the importance of good attendance and punctuality. At Lincoln Castle Academy we take attendance and punctuality very seriously and rely on parents to support our high standards. Time out of school soon adds up; missing lessons makes it hard to catch up and students have to work harder when they return. Lateness contributes to your child’s overall attendance percentage; if your child is 5 minutes late each day that accumulates to 3 days of education lost over an academic year.

Statistics prove that if your child’s attendance remains below 90% it is likely they will drop a grade in their GCSEs.

Our minimum attendance expectation for students is 95%. If your child’s attendance falls below 95% it triggers a cause for concern. At this point the Attendance Officer, Mrs Medley, will write home and invite you in for an Attendance Panel Meeting. At this meeting we will look at interventions to improve attendance. If these interventions do not improve attendance then further action can be taken resulting in a possible court case.

Attendance – helpful reminders:

Parents/Carers have a duty to ensure their child’s regular attendance at school and failure to do so is an offence under Section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996.
Local authorities and all schools have legal powers to issue warnings, make home visits, attendance panel meetings and issue parenting contracts, parenting orders and penalty notices to address poor attendance.
Penalty notices are fines of £60/£120 imposed on each parent. Failure to pay can result in prosecution.
Students should arrive before 8.30 am so that they are prompt for lesson 1. It is unfair that other students education is disturbed due students joining lessons late.
Holidays and routine medical appointments will not be authorised during term time

What constitutes good attendance?
98% - 100% = Excellent
95% - 97%     = Good
90% - 94%    = Cause for concern
Under 90%      = Significant concern (persistent absentee)

Our minimum attendance target for students is 95%. If your child is absent from school owing to illness you are required to notify the school by phone. When your child returns to school, please ensure you provide a note explaining the absence. Where applicable an appointment card/hospital letter should also be provided.

I would just like to remind you that if there is a change in your contact details that you please let the academy know, it is vital that we have at least two numbers in case of an emergency.

I hope you will support us in maintaining good attendance for your child, however, if there is anything you need to discuss which may affect their attendance please do not hesitate to contact the Attendance Officer, Mrs Medley.

Yours sincerely
Mrs E Halpin
Principal

30^th September 2021

Dear Parent/Carer

We no longer have the facility for students to bring in cash to pay for lunch and the vericool machine on site has been deactivated. We are asking all parents to only use our e-payment method to pay for lunch money, trips, music lessons etc. This can be done online using a very secure website called ParentPay or in cash at local stores where you see the PayPoint logo.

Already have a ParentPay account?
If you already have a ParentPay account, either with our school or another ParentPay school, you can simply login to that account and add your other children via the Add a child tab on your home page. You will need an activation username and password to do this.

New to ParentPay?
You have a secure online account, activated using a unique activation username and password; you will be prompted to change these and to keep them safe and secure as your Username and Password for future logins.

If you have two or more children at a ParentPay school, you only need to activate one account to create your ‘main account' and then add your other children via the Add a child tab on your home page.
Please visit www.parentpay.com and activate your account via the Account login area on the home page of the site.

ParentPay holds an electronic record of your payments to view at a later date. Once you have activated your account you can make online payments straight away using your preferred method of payment.

Those parents wishing to pay cash for items in school should contact the school office to request the option of paying via PayPoint. This is easy to use by simply presenting a bar code, which will be provided by the school, to your local store, transferring the funds directly to the school. You will need to contact the school office to request a different barcode for each payment item as these are set up e.g. school meals, trips or activities.

Our office staff will be sending activation codes out to you very shortly. Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you need assistance.

Yours sincerely
Mrs E Halpin
Principal

We are committed to a policy of treating each person equally and we have carefully considered and analysed the impact of our policies on equality and the possible implications for individuals with protected characteristics, recognising the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations.

9 Protected characteristics: Age, Sex, Race, Disability, Religion, Gender re-assignment, Pregnancy or maternity, Marriage or Civil partnership, Sexual orientation.

Press Releases Summer 2021

Year 11

12^th August 2021
Outstanding Year 11 Results at Lincoln Castle Academy

Following a year of disruption, Year 11 students at Lincoln Castle Academy have secured outstanding GCSE and vocational results. Students achieved a record number of top grades, with the academy’s Attainment 8 figure increasing further this year to 4.4, an average increase of half a grade.

Teacher-assessed grades saw record numbers of students achieving a standard basic pass in Maths and English at 60% while 34% achieved a strong basic pass in both.

76% of Year 11s recorded a standard level 4 pass in English, with 55% achieving the strong grade 5 or above. In Maths, 66% reached level 4 with 37% achieving grade 5 or higher.

The majority of Lincoln Castle Academy students now begin their Level 3 studies in our Sixth Form whilst other students progress into employment or apprenticeships.

Mrs Laming congratulated all Year 11s on their achievements. “This year group experienced unimaginable disruption, not only through several lockdowns but also during periods of self-isolation. Students had to learn to work in new ways and continuously adapt. This year group demonstrated incredible resilience and hard work. They produced robust portfolios of evidence which were then moderated and scrutinised. I am incredibly proud of them and the character they have demonstrated.

I would also like to thank parents and carers for the support given to their child and their commitment to the partnership between home and school during this challenging time.

During this unprecedented year, I would also like to pay tribute to the Lincoln Castle Academy staff. The entire team of teaching and support staff worked incredibly hard in challenging circumstances. They adapted the curriculum, developed new approaches to teaching and continued to provide consistent pastoral care for all students whether in the academy or through remote learning. During the past 18 months we have had to overcome some extraordinary challenges; I am enormously grateful for the commitment to ensure students achieved their potential.”

Post 16

10^th August, 2021
Outstanding Post-16 Results at Lincoln Castle Academy

Following a year of disruption, Year 13 students at Lincoln Castle Academy have secured outstanding results and now embark on a range of exciting pathways.

Post-16 students achieved a record number of top grades, with 48% grades awarded at A/ A* or equivalent. 67% students now begin university with 33% securing employment or apprenticeships.

As always students go on to study a wide variety of courses at university, they include: Sociology at Manchester University, Musical Theatre at Goldsmiths, Psychology at Birkbeck, Forensic Psychology at Coventry, Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam, Architectural Technology at Liverpool John Moores, International Tourism Management at Leeds Beckett and Clinical Psychology, Criminology and Film Production at Lincoln University. Apprenticeships include retail, childcare and a number of students now begin their training in the Royal Marines.

Mrs Laming congratulated all Year 13s on their achievements. “I’m immensely proud of this year group and their resilience and hard work. Students worked incredibly hard to create robust portfolios of evidence, which were then moderated and scrutinised. Now this talented year group will go on to achieve great things and we wish them the very best in their future careers.”

“I would like to thank parents and carers for the support given to their child and their commitment to the partnership between home and school during this challenging time.”

Introduction from Principal

Letters to Students & Parents

COVID-19 IMPORTANT INFORMATION

2021

Year 11

Post 16

LCA Facebook

		© LCA 2021/2022
	Harbour Learning Trust, Low Road, Healing, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire DN41 7QD Tel: 01472 502400 Fax: 01472 502401 www.harbourlearningtrust.com