Dear Potential Applicant,
It is with mixed feelings that I write this letter - over the last six years, Longslade has been a significant part of my life, but, with the big 'Six - 0' only a few months away and fourteen years of Headship behind me, I have made the decision to pass the 'helm' of Longslade to a new leader. I am certain I leave the College in a much better state than it was (if Ofsted is to be believed!), but there is still a great challenge for the successful candidate - to lead Longslade's next phase of development towards 'outstanding' outcomes.
The purpose of this letter is not to showcase achievements, but to outline some of the context in which the College works and some of the key issues it faces.
The College has grown dramatically from less than 900 to 1230 this September, over a period of six years. We have now reached our maximum student accommodation number of 1208 and potentially will have 50 more students on roll next year (mainly Post 16). However, as in most secondary schools, numbers are falling in the 11 - 14 age range in our high schools.
The achievement of Key Stage 2 of recent 'entrants' to our high schools has dropped over the last few years though there is better enthusiasm for learning - our Key Stage 4 year groups are the fourth most deprived (out of eighteen) in Leicestershire. Other characteristics of our intake include:
» the highest proportion of statemented students in Leicestershire, partly because of our Speech & Language Centre
» 25% of students travel from deprived city wards to Longslade
» a very 'flat' rather than 'normal' distribution of ability and deprivation.
As Ofsted indicates, teaching is good, but many staff have been promoted externally because of the success of their careers and so there is quite a turnover of teachers. We have recruited good NQTs and have a few GTPs each year, but we have to work hard to improve the quality of teaching - the technology faculty leads the move towards outstanding teaching.
Although we are a Technology College, the low funding of education in Leicestershire has meant that Specialist College funding has provided few luxuries, especially as funding for increased student numbers always arrives seven or even twelve months late - however, I would always rather be expanding than coping with falling roles.
Upper schools are peculiar 'beasts'! Some students are barely with us for two years – we need to build relationships for learning very quickly at the beginning of year 10 and students need to hit the ground running in order to attempt two levels of progress from Key Stage 3 - 4. We believe our pastoral support for the transfer from year 9 - 10 is outstanding, but there is still much to done to improve the learning transition and this means work with our high schools reaching new levels of collaboration. There is a real desire to work together in our development group at primary level, as well as at secondary transfer, but with one high school next to us on the same campus and the other four miles away, there are some fascinating problems to get truly seamless working for all students and staff.
The development group is also the partnership base for a 5 – 19 VLE and is an extended school – neither of these have got off the ground as quickly as we might have hoped, but heads are keen to make them work more effectively over the next eighteen months.
The job description indicates the range of partnerships we are engaged in - they are all important, but priorities need to be considered carefully over the next few years. The future of 14 - 19 partnerships are uncertain in the current financial and political climates, but we are currently teaching the Society, Health & Development Diploma (at Level 2) with the Leicester City Partnership and our students attend Hair & Beauty at New College in Leicester. Several of our staff are key leaders of diploma development in the city and county. We anticipate two further diplomas starting in September.
The 'HBBW' County Partnership consists of four Upper Schools on the north and western edges of Leicester City (Wreake Valley, Longslade, Groby and Bosworth from east to west) together with two schools in the Hinckley area (John Cleveland and William Bradford), who are beginning to work more on their own with North Warwickshire and Hinckley College.
Please don't be too bemused by the information above or on the rest of our website. I have had a really stimulating time at Longslade – we have a very committed and enthusiastic staff and some tremendous students. It has been tremendous to see our staff gain confidence beyond special measures to believe in a vision that will make Longslade a truly special and effective school – it is already special, but it can do an even better job for and with our students.
Good luck in your application if you choose to apply.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Mike Griffiths
Co-Principal
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