Author: James Harris

As we return to school after the half-term break we are piloting a consistent approach to ensuring that homework is completed by all students, balancing support with sanctions.

Our reasons for setting homework are clearly stated on the website and have not changed.  To quote the first line…

We have been working hard to be clear about our curriculum over the last few months.  This has given us the chance to reflect on the purpose of education and what makes education at WLD very special.  As you have seen, we take our motto "Learning for Life" extremely seriously and that has led us…

I have been a teacher for 28 years now and the more I look at the results that students achieve each year the clearer it seems to be - students who work hard and attend school do well! It doesn't sound very complicated, and it isn't. We call it "attitude to learning" at WLD and, if your child is…

Close to the start of the new school year, I have some concerns about homework which I am with raising staff, students and parents/carers. We are very clear about our reasons for setting homework - they are described on the website here and we publish our homework policy for each subject here. …

For many years now, the Prom at the end of Year 11 has been a lovely annual event at which we celebrate all the friendships and memories that have been created over five years at Walton-le-Dale.  This year we are moving the venue to the Marquee at St Catherine's so that we can enjoy their…

Open Evening was amazing!  Thanks to everyone for coming and to everyone who helped with the organisation.  I always urge parents/carers, whether or not they have been to Open Evening, to make an appointment to see around the school "in action"....  I have already started showing people around and…

Firstly, apologies for the number of texts that you may have received from us on Friday - it is not our intention to bombard you with information.  It is just a very busy time of the school year.

Open Evening is tomorrow (Monday) - this is an important chance for parents and carers of  primary…

Well done to all our new Year 7s for a really positive first week.  The step up to high school, however good the transition, is always a challenge. They will all be tired so let's hope that they have got some sleep this weekend in preparation for tomorrow.  

Uniform has been very, very good…

We are looking forward to welcoming all our current students back on Tuesday morning, along with our new Year 7.  Everyone starts at the usual time and senior staff will be travelling on the buses in the morning to make sure that our new Year 7 get used to their way to school.  We also welcome a…

We have reached the end of another eventful school year!  It has been a year of development - focused on keeping the ethos and relationships constant, which are the heart of the school, while seeking to continually improve the quality of teaching and learning in every lesson.  ​Trips and…

Many thanks to everyone for your support of the "Race for Life Schools" - at the end of the day we believed that we have raised over £2000, but that is just an estimate as the cash donations have yet to be properly counted.  Cancer has touched many of us this year, either directly or indirectly,…

T&L Digests have moved onto this blog - all the past issues can be found on the website here