Return to School Updates and Reminders for Parents/Carers

Below are a few updates and reminders ready for the start of term next week

• When does my child start next week?
  • Only Year 7 are in school on Tuesday 5^th September
  • ALL students return to school on Wednesday 6^th September
• A reminder about times of the day
  • Students must be in school for 8.30am every day
  • The school day finishes at 3pm
  • For Year 7 – 10 students the school day will finish at 3.30pm on Enrichment Thursday which will run for the first 5 weeks of a half term (a separate timetable for enrichment will be published on the website)
  • All bus times have been adjusted in line with the times of the school day
  • Please click the link for more details regarding times of the day Our School Day 2023/24 – Little Lever School (little-lever.bolton.sch.uk)
• Attendance
  • The government has placed a huge emphasis on attendance this academic year. We believe it is critical if we want to help children achieve things they never thought they could.
  • Children who miss school regularly do not achieve as much as students that attend every day and that is a fact.
  • Please click the link below to go to our attendance website page to find out more details about the importance of your child’s attendance and what happens if your child is absent from school Attendance & Punctuality – Little Lever School (little-lever.bolton.sch.uk)
• Equipment Update

  We understand many parents will have purchased pencil cases and equipment for your children.  This academic year we will provide all the necessary equipment for your child to learn effectively at Little Lever.

  We will provide your child with;

  • A clear pencil case with a pen, pencil, purple pen, ruler and rubber inside it
  • A mini-whiteboard which will help all students to be able to show us what they know and most importantly what they don’t know in every lesson
  • A Need to Know Book which identifies all the essential knowledge your child needs to know in every subject in every year group
  • A reading book. Your child will be able to select a Reading Book from our Reading Routes programme. We will then purchase the book for them.

  EVERY student must have ALL their equipment with them at all times throughout the school day.

  Whilst we will provide all the equipment above, as parents we would expect you to provide your child with a school bag that allows your child to store all their equipment in. 

  Please don’t worry if you have already bought stationery for your child.  They can store this in the clear pencil case we have purchased for them.

  Having the correct equipment above will be an essential part of supporting our students to learn everyday.

  Equipment checks will take place every morning to ensure every student has the right equipment and therefore no child is at a disadvantage when they are learning in our classrooms.

• Uniform Reminder
  • Students are only permitted to wear a wrist watch. Rings, earrings, piercings and bracelets are not to be worn.
  • 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.
  • If students have had piercings over the summer they must be removed ready for their school start date
  • If students arrive to school with jewellery on it will be confiscated and a correction will be issued.  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 have false nails or eyelashes these must also be removed ready for their school start date
  • We insist on black leather shoes and we will not deviate from this. We do not allow trainers of any type.
  • We will always give students the choice to change into the correct uniform and we will always provide the correct uniform for students to wear. If students make the right choice to wear the correct uniform they will continue with their normal school day.  If students refuse to wear the correct school uniform or refuse to remove jewellery, nails, eyelashes they will be placed in the reflection room and parents will be contacted in line with our behaviour policy.
  • We will work with parents and carers to resolve any issues as swiftly as possible.

  Please visit ‘Our Expectations’ page for more detailed uniform expectations:

  Our Expectations – Little Lever School (little-lever.bolton.sch.uk)

• Behaviour Policy Updates

  We believe in disruption free learning for our students to give them the best chance of success for the rest of their lives.  It is important that students can concentrate on the essential building blocks of knowledge and have an environment where they can deliberately practice so they know more and can remember more.

  Having reviewed the current behaviour policy as we do each year and listening to students and parents we have modified the policy so it is a fairer system.  We wanted to ensure our policy emphasises the importance of learning in a lesson and also differentiates our correction system.  This means we can implement a fairer system that can differentiate consequences if a student chooses to disturb the learning of others versus a student choosing to refuse to follow a reasonable request by not tucking their shirt in.

  During the summer term of last academic year we modified aspects of the behaviour policy and trialed it with Year 8.

  Please visit the Year 8 trial page which we shared with Year 8 parents last academic year for more information on this.  Choice, Chance, Reflection: Year 8 Behaviour Policy Amendments – Little Lever School (little-lever.bolton.sch.uk)

  The final version of the amendments can be found on our ‘Our Expectations’ webpage: Our Expectations – Little Lever School (little-lever.bolton.sch.uk)

  All students will receive an induction session on their first day back at Little Lever so they are clear on our purpose, values and habits.