The St Lawrence Academy

Details

Address: Doncaster Road, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN15 7DF  View Map

About: The St Lawrence Academy is a new Academy of excellence for 11-16 year old boys and girls of all abilities, specialising in Science and Sport.

As Principal, I am privileged to have been given the opportunity to lead the creation and development of The St Lawrence Academy. I want to lead an excellent Academy where innovative learning and teaching go hand in hand with our core values and the expectation that everyone will be valued and their potential released.We have high aspirations for all our students, supported by a committed and enthusiastic team of staff, dedicated to bringing out the best in every student. We want parents and carers to work in partnership with us to create a learning culture in which students are determined to succeed, are confident in their abilities and are fully involved in the life of the Academy and local community.

Our students will be our ambassadors,and will be encouraged to take on leadership responsibilities and get involved in Student Voice activities,as they are our future leaders. We aim to help all our students to develop a lifelong enthusiasm for learning.I look forward to meeting you soon.

Contact: Mrs Joan Barnes

Email: enquiries@thestlawrenceacademy.co.uk

Telephone: 01724 842447

Fax: 01724 289660

Website: www.thestlawrenceacademy.co.uk

Click here to view the Ofsted information regarding this provider.

Additional Information: The intake of the academy will be broadly similar to that of the predecessor school as the admission criteria are almost identical. Current evidence reflects the full ability range with relatively few students with high scores at KS2 and many having weak basic skills of literacy and numeracy. Generally, reading ages are below their chronological age and average KS2 scores are well below national expectations. The number of students on the special educational needs register is likely to be above average and a significant minority are likely to have emotional and behavioural difficulties. Furthermore, recently, the predecessor school has been the school of choice for the children of migrant workers and asylum seekers, which reside in the area. This has resulted in groups of pupils joining various year groups with particular needs including English literacy. The curriculum content and organisation will have to address the needs of the intake in order that the students have the opportunity to enjoy their learning, access the curriculum opportunities and, achieve beyond the expectations that are associated with low levels of prior attainment. This expectation will be, that every student can achieve 5 A*-C grades including English and maths.

Curriculum principles

The curriculum will provide planned opportunities for spiritual development

The basic skills of literacy, oracy, numeracy and ICT will be coordinated across all subject areas to ensure that students are able improve their skills beyond National expectations, and to enable them to access the curriculum effectively.

Students who have reading ages that are more than 12 months below their chronological age will follow a reading recovery programme to enable them to be fluent readers

Learning to learn and thinking skills will be integrated into all subject schemes of work and further promoted through theme days and project based activities

Personal and social competencies will be explicitly taught through the PSHEE programme and the behaviour for learning policy that will permeate the academy

Each student will have their curriculum individualised through their Personal Learning Plan, which will be regularly reviewed with their learning mentor and their parents

Lesson planning and schemes of work will follow best practice to ensure that lessons are accessible to all academy students

Students with a special educational need will receive the support that is necessary for them to realise their potential and to enjoy their education

Students will be offered and guided to, relevant pathways for learning throughout their careers, enabling them to make choices about their learning

ICT systems will support the staff in providing up-to-date data, which will enable them to tailor learning programmes to meet students’ needs. This, together with staff expertise will promote the academy’s approach to assessment for learning linking targets, mentoring and progress to raise achievement.

Specialisms

The two specialisms, sports and science, will play a major role in raising standards in the academy and promoting life long learning in the community. The Specialisms leader will be a member of the Senior Leadership Team to ensure that they contribute to academy policy and are accountable for outstanding performance. They will model excellent practice, provide leadership and development for their colleagues and enable all academy students to be successful by:

Providing a wide range of curricular experiences that will facilitate spiritual development;

Raising standards of literacy and numeracy by integrating their development into their schemes of work and lesson planning as well as supporting other departments in their planning, learning and teaching;

Providing leadership for all aspects of the healthy living agenda through their curriculum and coordinating the input of other subject areas both for staff and students;

Achieving GCSE, Diploma and BTEC results in physical education and science that compare favourably with other specialist schools and academies through outstanding learning and teaching experiences;

Providing a range of extra-curricular and enrichment activities to enable students to broaden their experience and achieve exceptional standards in their chosen activities

Enabling students to participate in local and national events and competitions

Raising the expectations of academy colleagues and the local community through students achieving outstanding levels of attainment and exemplary standards of personal development;

Providing training and development for colleagues on classroom pedagogy, the use of assessment for learning and behaviour management;

Providing leadership training for colleagues with regard to team leadership and performance management;

Forming links with the local community that will extend the curriculum and provide continuity and progression for students into college courses and work based learning;

Training science and physical education teachers through the Graduate Teacher Programme and linking with other local providers of teacher training to share good practice. The academy will consider applying for ‘training school’ status as it develops capacity in delivering the programme.

Providing a programme of continuous professional development for specialist staff to ensure that their knowledge, skills and understanding of their subject and their role in the academy is of the highest standard;

Planning monitoring and evaluating their contribution to the academy and taking action whenever performance is less than outstanding.