FAQs

This Frequently Asked Questions page is designed as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for you to understand the key aspects of the school. We’ve anticipated what parents/carers and students may want to ask about our school and have provided guidance for each question below…

  • What is your ethos?

    Little Lever School is one of the most improved schools in the country! One of the major reasons for this is that everyone at Little Lever believes in our core purpose and doing things the Little Lever Way! Click below to find out what the Little Lever Way is all about…

    The Little Lever Way

  • How do you reward and praise students?

    We care about children and we want every child at Little Lever to be known and feel valued.  We want them to understand that success comes through hard work and effort.  We understand how Praise helps and supports every person to achieve things they never thought they could, but praise is earned at Little Lever.  We give praise for a multitude of things but primarily for demonstrating effort and kindness.  Click below to find out more about our praise culture…

    Our Praise Culture

     

  • How do you set high standards of behaviour?

    We have very clear expectations at Little Lever.  We are very clear about what we expect from each and every student.  This is to ensure ALL students have the best chance of achieving things they never thought they could!  In our experience when you raise your expectations of young people they always rise to the challenge.  Click below to find out more about our expectations.

    Our Expectations

  • What are your expectations around homework?

    Research has shown that a key aspect of children’s achievement is directly linked to regular, small learning tasks which help them to know more and remember more. Our Retrieval Practice strategy sets out what kind of study students are expected to do at home.

    Our Retrieval Practice Expectations

  • What subjects do you offer and how does your curriculum support students to make great progress?

     

    Our Curriculum pages guide you through our subjects and courses we offer for all our students from Year 7 to 11. Find out more below…

    Explore our curriculum, subjects and courses

  • How do you ensure your teaching helps EVERY student to become effective learners?

    We pride ourselves on knowing what has the greatest impact in helping your children learn.   This is one of the many reasons why we are one of the most improved schools in the country!  We are research driven and only implement teaching strategies that have the greatest impact in helping our students achieve things they never thought they could!  Please click below to find out more about how we do this…

    Our Teaching

     

  • How do your students perform at GCSE?

    Little Lever School is in the top 60 most improved schools in the country in 2019 based on our fantastic GCSE results. Even during these unprecedented times, we continue to make great strides in ensuring our students leave with the best possible outcomes. Our GCSE results are available view in the tab below;

    Our GCSE Results

  • What extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities do you provide?

    The school runs a wide range of enrichment clubs during and after school. From first aid training to bake-off competitions, there’s something on offer for everyone!

    Our enrichment activities support positive relationships and develop our students’ interpersonal skills. The school tracks and records every child’s involvement in these opportuntities and this is reported to parents/carers in end of year Life Chances reports alongside academic performance. This provides an holistic picture of students’ committment and contribution to learning and personal development in and beyond the classroom.

    Find out more about our enrichment curriculum in the link below;

    Our Enrichment

     

  • How does your school day help students recover from the loss of school time due to the pandemic?

    Following proposals from Sir Kevan Collins we want to create the capacity to provide a recovery curriculum that helps students develop academically, socially and emotionally.

    • TIME: To give students more time and greater access to Enrichment opportunities and our Life Chances programmes so they can experience opportunities they have not had through the pandemic. To give students in Year 11 additional time so they can prepare adequately for the rigours of GCSE 2022.
    • TEACHING: To focus intently on teaching strategies to improve students’ learning to ensure they receive the best learning experiences. Our students have given extremely positive feedback about how our 3 session day is supporting their learning.
    • TARGETTED SUPPORT: To provide specific targeted support to students who need it both academically, socially and emotionally. Mentoring programmes will be established to support students both before school from 8.30am and after school from 2.45pm.

    WHAT WILL THE DAY LOOK LIKE FOR EACH YEAR GROUP?

    Morning Breakfast: A choice of breakfast dishes are available for students to purchase who arrive from 8am every day.  Breakfast will be fuel for the day to support students’ concentration and focus in sessions.  Students play a role in helping us shape the menu with a focus on foods that will support their learning.

    PREP Time: PREP time will ensure students are well prepared for learning that day.

    Achievement points will be reviewed every day and students will be rewarded daily for upholding the school values and helping every person achieve things they never thought they could!  Equipment checks will take place every morning to ensure there is no wasted learning time in students’ sessions.

    Optional Enrichment: Students will have the opportunity to sign up to an Enrichment experience every half term.  Enrichment experiences will occur every night of the week with the exception of Wednesday.  Students will be able to sign up to experiences from mountain biking, to ‘Bake off’ to FIFA club, to Duke of Edinburgh, to industrial standard first aid courses.  We will ensure Enrichment is timetabled to allow students to attend more than one per week if they would like to.

    Nightclub: Nightclub is an opportunity for students to complete their retrieval practice strategies (homework) for their low stakes quizzes, to prepare for tomorrow’s sessions or simply to come and read a book.  Students that stay after 4pm will be given free refreshments before they go home.

     

  • How do you carry on the learning of students through the current COVID situation if they have to self isolate or the school goes into lockdown?

    We have designed two remote learning programmes for students who need to self isolate for up to 14 days and one if the school goes in to full lockdown over an extended period. Find out more below;

    Our Remote Learning Guide

  • What equipment does my child have to bring to school each day?

    Equipment at Little Lever refers to 4 things:

    1. Book (Year 7 – 9 Reading Routes book)
    2. Bag
    3. Pencil case
    4. Planner

    All students are expected to have these 4 items at all times when they are in school.

    ‘You wouldn’t turn up to a football match without your football boots… you’re probably not going to play very well…’

    This is a common analogy we use with students to show them the importance of having their equipment with them at all times. Not having the right equipment can significantly affect the progress a student makes each day.

    We conduct equipment checks every morning in EDGE time. Students who do not have the right equipment will be issued the right equipment for the day. If students return the equipment at the end of the day there will be no consequence issued. Should students not return their equipment they will be issued with a C3 detention. Again, this is to teach students about the importance of managing themselves and taking responsibility for their equipment.

  • What is your stance on the use of mobile phones in school?

    We are a Mobile Phone Free School.  This is a national project established by Parents and Teachers for Excellence.   While the Mobile Phone is a fantastic creation and helps society in so many ways we do not feel they are conducive to helping students learn.  They cause too many distractions, increase the risk of exposure to uncensored material and cause significant mental health issues for young people when used for pro-longed periods of time.   There is significant re-search to suggest that those schools who have mobile phone free policies have significantly improved the life chances of their students by improving their concentration levels which has resulted in improved GCSE outcomes for their students.

    Many of the top performing schools in the country have adopted a mobile phone free policy and we feel our students will reap the benefits of being able to concentrate solely on learning when they come to school.  Our Little Lever Parent Forum were in full support of becoming a Mobile Phone Free school and echoed the benefits to learning and students’ mental health this would bring.

    How will it work? 

    Students must not have a mobile phone on their person at any time of the school day.

    We understand that parents/carers will want to keep in touch with their children and many parents will want their child to carry a mobile phone for safety reasons.  For this reason, students will be able to bring a mobile phone into school but it must remain switched off and in the students’ bag until the end of the day.  Once the student has crossed the blue line outside the school gates at the end of the day they are free to use their mobile phone.

    If students have a mobile phone on their person or are seen using their mobile phone at any part of the school day it will be confiscated and a C3 detention will be issued.  The phone will be labelled and placed securely in the school safe and record of the students name will be taken.  Students can collect the phone at the end of the school day.

    If a student has a mobile phone on their person or is seen using it for a second time the phone will be confiscated for 5 school days from the date it was confiscated and the student will receive a C3 detention.  We will ask parents and carers to collect the phone at the end of the 5 day period.

    If a student has a mobile phone on their person or is seen using it for a third time the phone will be confiscated for a 4 week period from the date it was confiscated and the student will receive a C3 detention.  We will ask parents and carers to collect the phone at the end of the 4 week period.

    For every time a student has a mobile phone on their person or is seen using it after the third time it will be confiscated for 4 weeks each time and the student will receive a C3 detention.  We will always ask parents/carers to collect the phone at the end of the 4 week period.

  • What is the school's uniform policy?

    We have a strict uniform policy.  This is to ensure students are preparing themselves for the world of work and life beyond their 5 years at Little Lever.  In many jobs students will have to wear a uniform or specialist equipment.  We want to teach our students the value of this.  We also want to ensure every student feels part of the Little Lever team.  When students wear our blazer they take on the responsibility to leave the blazer in a better place.  This means they represent our community when they wear our blazer and they must represent our community in the right way.

    We insist on black leather shoes and we will not deviate from this.  We do not allow trainers of any type.

    Students are only permitted to wear a wrist watch.  Rings, earrings, piercings and bracelets are not to be worn.  If students arrive to school with jewellery on it will be confiscated and a C3 detention will be issued.  Again, we want students to take responsibility for the choices they make.  We have set out a clear uniform policy and our expectations will not change.  The responsibility lies with the student to make the right choice.

    If students are going to have piercings we recommend students have these done over the summer holidays.  We will not accept any reason for wearing jewellery other than a wrist watch.

  • How do you involve students in the running and leadership of the school?

    Our SLC (Student Leadership Council) plays a vital role in the life and direction of the school, as this body represents the voice of all our students. Made up of elected members from all Year Groups, the SLC meets regularly as a commitee to discuss school improvement initiatives, presents their feedback to senior leaders and the trust, represents the school in local, national and international events and are exceptional role models for everyone.

     

  • What opportunites are there for students to achieve success beyond the classroom and how do you recognise that?

    Here you will find the brilliant ways in which Little Lever students go above and beyond in participating in and contributing to extra-curricular clubs, sporting excellence, charitable acts and community work; helping them achieve things they never thought they could.

    Our Wall of Fame page below recognises and celebrates the brillliant things our students have achieved; please enjoy!

    Our Wall of Fame

  • How does the school supports students with SEND?

    Some students received some additional support in Primary School and may need some additional support once at Little Lever School.  The Inclusion team are in contact with your Primary Schools to find out what support may be needed for you to successfully transition to Little Lever School.

    Throughout Year 7 and beyond, the Inclusion team are available to support you with all your learning and health needs both within the classroom and in small groups outside the classroom.   A full range of interventions are offered in school and you can see the types of interventions in our school SEN Report which can be viewed in the page link below…

    Our School Policies – including SEN

     

  • How does the school support students coping with coronavirus, mental health and wellbeing concerns?

    Please click on the links below to our Mental Health and Wellbeing section which outlines how the school supports and promotes positive mental health and wellbeing. Our News section often provides updated information on external support in this area as well.

    Mental Health and Wellbeing

    Staying Mentally and Physically Healthy at Home

     

  • How do I apply for a place at your school?
    All admissions to Little Lever School are co-ordinated by Bolton Council’s Pupil and Student Services. Pupil and Student Services are based at Bolton Town Hall, BL1 1UA.

    Admissions can be reached by email at admissions@bolton.gov.uk or by telephone at  01204 333333.

    ALL FORMS AND INFORMATION

    For applications during the academic year please contact Pupil and Student services at the above address.

    Please click on the link below to take you to our Admissions page;

    Admissions