Our Lady’s Catholic CollegeLancaster

A Caring Catholic Community

The recentWhite Paper on Education revealed clear changes ineducational priorities for the government. Significant among these wasthe introduction of the ‘English Baccalaureate’ – recognition of successin specific traditional academic subjects considered suitable anddesirable for those students aspiring to professional careers and HigherEducation.

We welcome the emphasis on a rigorous, broad based education for themajority of students and as Our Lady’s has retained a firm foundation oftraditional subjects, we look forward to the ‘Ebacc’ showing how goodwe are at the more ‘academic’ exams.We expect most of our studentswill opt to do the new English Baccalaureate as they know it is whatUniversities and certain employers will look for.

At the same time we will not be abandoning the excellent vocationalroutes we have nurtured over the past few years. Many students willalways be happier with more practical learning. As Higher Educationitself undergoes significant change, we may also see able studentsdeliberately choosing to enter the world of work earlier, aware that theycan study and progress whilst earning.

We have also addressed the usual restriction of curricular choice thatoccurs in times of financial constraint and despite changes in funding,instead of restricting choice of curriculum, we have increased it.Youngpeople joining Our Lady’s at age 11 have always known that they couldstay where they were well known and supported right through to 18, butnow they don’t have to sacrifice any element of flexibility for thatsecurity.We are collaborating post 16 with three other local high schoolsso that together we can offer a vast range of post 16 subjects thatindividually no single school could afford.

Curriculum Fit for the Future

As Higher Education itself undergoes significant change,we may also see able students deliberatelychoosing to enter the world of work earlier,

aware that they can study and progress whilst earning.

Teachers at Our Lady’s are skilled in delivering lessons that aredifferentiated according to varied academic needs. For certain pupilshowever, additional help and support is required.Where the need foradditional help is identified, the school will discuss those needs with thepupil and an Individual Education Plan (IEP) is devised. This is reviewedtwice a year by the school’s Learning Support Department, under themanagement of Miss Hulme. Copies of the reviewed IEP and the new IEPare provided to parents. This level of assistance is called ‘School Action’.

If, despite the additional help the school puts in place, there is stillconcern that the pupil is not making satisfactory progress, then adviceand expertise from professionals not directly employed by the schoolwill be sought. The respective IEPs then become more detailed and thislevel of assistance is called ‘School Action Plus’.

ADMISSIONS ARRANGEMENTS FOR PUPILSWITH SPECIALEDUCATIONAL NEEDS

The school’s admission policy does not discriminate on the grounds ofspecial needs. Pupils are admitted from a number of primary schools,both Catholic and non-Catholic, and are placed in mixed abilityregistration groups. Pupils are streamed for academic work basedinitially on information from the primary schools.

Pupils who have been described by parents or primary school staff as inneed of extra support or monitoring, behaviourally or academically areidentified to the Head ofYear, the Pastoral Support Officer and the Headof Learning Support as appropriate. Form Tutors are also informed.

FACILITIES ANDACCESS

There is a dedicated suite of classrooms for the teaching of LearningSupport classes where pupils can access multi-sensory learning andliteracy and numeracy development software. A wide range of specialneeds are specifically catered for in Learning Support and provisionincludes a Nurture Group for pupils especially vulnerable on transition toSecondary school. The Nurture Room also provides a ‘safe haven’ forpupils who find socialising during flexible times of the school day achallenge. All Learning Support classes involve small groups of pupils andhave consistency of staff.

All teaching areas of the school are now accessible to pupils withphysical disabilities.

ACCESSTOTHE CURRICULUM

The school provides pupils with Special Educational Needs access to abalanced and broadly based curriculum including the NationalCurriculum as required by the SEN Code of Practice.

InYears 7, 8 and 9 there is the opportunity for some pupils to have extrasupport with basic literacy and numeracy skills.We also offer extractionclasses for English as an Additional Language.

At Key Stage 4 some departments provide alternative courses for thosepupils for whom GCSEs are inappropriate. It is expected that alldepartments enable access to the curriculum for SEN pupils by the useof differentiated teaching styles, differentiated schemes of work anddifferentiated assessment.

The Learning Support team provide advice and direct support todepartments for pupils with learning difficulties. This is in the form ofSEN Representatives’ meetings that take place once every half term andwhich are led by the SENCO or external agencies.

Special Educational Needs

A-Level Results 2010GCSEResults 2010

ALPS A-LEVEL – RAWA LEVEL RESULTSSubject No. of Entries A* A B C D E U Q A - E % A - C % A - B %

Art (Fine Art) 6 0 1 2 0 3 0 0 0 100.0 50.0 50.0

Biology 18 2 5 5 1 3 1 1 0 94.4 72.2 66.7

Chemistry 29 6 8 7 3 3 2 0 0 100.0 82.8 72.4

D&T (3D Design) 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 100.0 66.7 0.0

Drama 9 0 0 1 2 5 1 0 0 100.0 33.3 11.1

Econ. & Bus. (Nuffield) 9 0 2 2 2 3 0 0 0 100.0 66.7 44.4

English Lang. & Lit. 28 0 3 10 8 5 2 0 0 100.0 75.0 46.4

French 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Health & Social Care – D 6 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 100.0 100.0 50.0

Health & Social Care – S 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0

History 13 0 0 2 5 4 1 1 0 92.3 53.8 15.4

ICT 11 0 1 1 3 3 2 1 0 90.9 45.5 18.2

Mathematics 25 2 9 6 4 2 2 0 0 100.0 84.0 68.0

Media Studies 10 0 0 1 1 5 3 0 0 100.0 20.0 10.0

Music 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 100.0 0.0 0.0

Physical Education 8 0 1 1 3 1 1 1 0 87.5 62.5 25.0

Physics 9 1 0 2 2 3 1 0 0 100.0 55.6 33.3

Polish 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Psychology 9 0 0 2 3 3 1 0 0 100.0 55.6 22.2

Religious Studies 17 1 0 2 7 5 1 1 0 94.1 58.8 17.6

TOTALS 215 12 31 49 49 50 19 5 0 97.67 65.58 42.79

GCSE RESULTSSubject A* A B C D E F G U X TOTAL %A* - C

Additional Science 0 5 22 55 25 5 3 2 0 0 117 70

Art 0 3 2 9 8 3 2 2 0 0 29 48

Biology 4 6 8 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 23 91

Business Studies 0 3 11 7 2 3 1 3 0 0 30 70

Chemistry 5 8 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 95

Drama 0 1 13 16 5 2 3 1 0 0 41 73

Electronics 1 1 1 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 9 56

English 2 10 37 71 26 13 5 4 0 1 169 71

English Literature 3 14 36 45 11 0 0 0 1 0 110 89

Food Technology 0 3 6 9 6 2 0 1 0 0 27 67

French 1 1 2 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 12 58

Geography 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 5 40

German 0 3 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 100

History 0 4 7 17 16 5 4 1 4 0 58 48

Information Technology 2 16 15 18 9 6 1 0 0 0 67 76

Mathematics 3 13 31 64 19 17 13 4 0 5 169 66

Music 0 0 0 3 1 4 0 0 1 0 9 33

Physical Education 4 3 9 15 28 18 5 0 0 0 82 38

Physics 2 8 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 95

Polish 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 100

Product Design 0 0 1 4 4 1 0 0 0 0 10 50

Religious Education 7 14 42 38 23 11 3 0 0 0 138 73

Resistant Materials 0 0 0 5 8 2 1 1 2 0 19 26

Single Science 0 5 30 77 18 9 5 1 1 0 146 77

Textiles Technology 0 2 0 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 13 54

TOTAL GRADES 34 125 289 477 221 107 46 21 9 9 – 69

% EACH GRADE 2.5 9.3 21.6 35.7 16.5 8.0 3.4 1.6 0.7 0.7 – –

A* - E Pass Rate = 98%A* - C Pass Rate = 66% (School Record)A* - B Pass Rate = 43% (School Record)

HOWOLCC COMPARES – In line with the increased emphasis on GCSE, vocational qualifications have been omitted to allow fair comparisons. Main measure ofschool academic attainment is the number of students gaining 5 A*-C grades including English and Maths GCSEOLCC 5 A*-C grades including English and Maths 58%Avge. other Lancaster, Morecambe and Carnforth non-selective schools 5 A*-C incl. English and Maths 50.2%National 5 A*-C grades including English and Maths 53.4%Lancashire 5 A*-C grades including English and Maths 56.7%Within top 10% of schools nationally as measured in ‘value added’ terms 5 A* - C including English and Maths

“ “Our Lady’s always strives to work in close partnership with parents andvalues any help that parents can give. If a parent has concerns of anysort regarding SEN and their child then they should discuss themdirectly with the SENCO, Miss Hulme. Many pupils with SEN prefer tocommunicate with their allocated class Teaching Assistant, who will theninform the SENCO and parents will be contacted if necessary.

Teaching Assistants have very positive relationships with pupils andparents and aim to contact parents once every half term to discussprogress and development. This is further enhanced by termlymonitoring reports and IEPs twice a year. The SENCO often has dailycontact with parents via phone or email depending upon the nature andneed of the child.

Complaints about the special educational needs provision made by theschool should be discussed with the Headteacher, Mr Conboy. In theunlikely event that the Headteacher is unable to resolve the problem,then the parent can write to the Special Educational Needs governorcare of the school.

Parents can obtain copies of the Special Educational Needs Policy onrequest or from the website. The website also has details of otherimportant school policies including the Admissions Policy, theAccessibility Plan and the Child Protection Policy.We would also inviteparents to participate in the termly ‘Parents Forum’ meetings to sharetheir views with members of the School Leadership Team.

IMPLEMENTATIONOFTHE GOVERNING BODY’S POLICY ON PUPILSWITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS ANDANY CHANGESTOTHEPOLICY.

The quality of the implementation of the school’s Special EducationalNeeds Policy is perhaps most objectively assessed by the OfstedInspection. Comments included:-

“The school fosters a welcoming learning environment where all feelvalued and treated with respect. There is close attention to the needs ofvulnerable students and those who, for whatever reason,may be goingthrough a hard time.”

“The Catholic ethos of the school is one in which students are cherishedand very well cared for. Students, especially those that may bevulnerable, are very well supported.”

“Pupils are served well in this school and care is given to them asindividuals; they feel themselves to be respected and supported.Different learning needs are recognised and catered for with flair andcreativity.”

In May 2009 The Learning Support Department’s SEN audit (School Self-evaluation toolkit for inclusion) was inspected by the LEA adviser. On abalance of strengths and weaknesses it was concluded that ‘SENprovision is good’.

Partnership with Parents

Our Lady’s Catholic College places great importance upon the correctwearing of uniform. Experience has shown that in a college whereeveryone wears uniform, it is easier to foster a pride in personalappearance and neatness.

The College uniform is based on colour rather than style and most itemscan be obtained from several major department stores. However, ties,sweatshirts and PE items can be ordered from Mike’s Sportsworld/Trutexin Lancaster. Mike’s Sports also visits the school on a number ofoccasions during the year and always just before the beginning of theacademic year when many parents need to obtain new items.

If you have any questions after studying the list below – please contactthe school and we will be pleased to help.

KEY STAGE 3 (YEARS 7, 8 AND 9)

GIRLS UNIFORM• Plain mid-grey skirt in any style - modest length suitable for college,or trousers.

• Plain mid-blue regulation college-type of blouse with button-upneck, collar and sleeves. A similar short-sleeved blouse may be wornin the summer term.

• Plain black, brown, dark grey or dark blue shoes.• A dark coloured, preferably blue or grey, topcoat or anorak.• Navy blue sweatshirt.• College tie.

BOYS UNIFORM• Plain mid-grey trousers• Plain mid-blue regulation college-type shirt with button-up neck,collar and sleeves. A similar short-sleeved shirt may be worn in thesummer term.

• Plain black, brown, grey or white socks.• Plain black, dark brown, dark grey or dark blue shoes.• A dark coloured, preferably blue or grey, topcoat or anorak.• Navy blue sweatshirt.• College tie.

PE UNIFORM• White T-Shirt with school logo.• Royal blue shorts with school logo.• Royal blue and white rugby/hockey shirt with school logo.• Royal blue socks with school logo.

Please ensure that all pupils bring a towel to their P.E lessons as pupilsare encouraged to have a shower afterwards. It is also advisable in wetweather to bring a change of dry clothes.

PLEASE NOTETHAT PUPILS MAY NOTWEARTHE FOLLOWING;• Jewellery, other than a watch or small ear stud.• Make up or nail varnish.• Denim or corduroy.• Boots or trainers.

Details of Key Stage 4 Uniform (Years 10 and 11) can be obtained directfrom the College.

Uniform