Headteacher's Welcome Statement
On behalf of the governors and all the staff I would like to welcome you to John Spendluffe Technology College. It is my tremendous privilege to be headteacher of such a supportive and inclusive school. The school itself has been serving the local community since 1930’s and has had significant development and investment over the years, and is now housed in a well-equipped, professional learning environment.
We are fully committed to offering an inclusive and open entry policy to local young people. Furthermore, we offer a broad a balanced curriculum which is exciting and inspirational for the students.
Success comes in many forms. 70% of our students left JSTC with 5 or more GCSEs grade 4 and above with many achieving 7s, 8s and 9 grades.
The school is led on the values of respect, responsibility and resilience. These values are engrained in all that we do and are central to everything we do; from celebrating success to the way we educate and promote positive behaviour.
We strive to ensure that the conditions in school are created to allow the students to become the best they can be, not only in academic terms but in Sport, Creative and Performing Arts and citizenship as well. JSTC places a great deal of emphasis on student leadership and our students are rightly proud of their school.
There is a very special atmosphere at JSTC; visitors note the calm, purposeful and supportive environment. We value every child as an individual and understand the importance of ensuring students are as happy and settled in school. As a smaller secondary, we know our students as individuals and celebrate them as such. J
oining JSTC is the beginning of an exciting journey; we look forward to welcoming all those who want to join us for the next stage of their education.
Headteacher:
Mr S Curtis
JSTC Floor Plan
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We understand that Year 7 is a vital year for settling in and getting used to all the changes starting secondary schools brings. We also understand that, as parents or carers, this may be new to you too. Therefore, we've created a series of quick-links which give you direct access to important information you're bound to need or will be desperate to ask for.
Introduction by Chair of Governors – Mrs E Ramm
There are further details in the links panel but in summary:
The Governing Body are all volunteers and there are currently 13 governors varying from teachers, parents and members of the local and business community. We work together with the Headteacher and his senior team for the benefit of all the pupils and staff at John Spendluffe Technology College.
What do Governors do?
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The ethos of the Governing Body and of JSTC is centered on supporting the students to have the highest of aspirations for their future and to provide them with many opportunities to succeed.
As Governors of JSTC we are responsible for overseeing the management side of the school: strategy, policy, budgeting and staffing, including the appointment and management of the Headteacher to ensure standards are maintained at a high level.
We enable the school to run as effectively as possible, working alongside senior leaders and supporting teachers to provide excellent classroom teaching and a high quality of educational offering to students of all abilities. We are committed to the school community, acting as critical friends to the Headteacher and senior leaders. By challenging and asking questions about the school’s performance data, and rationale for decision making the governors aim to guarantee high standards.
Our Governing Body is the key strategic decision maker in JSTC. Along with the Headteacher, it is the role of the governors to set the school’s aims and objectives around how the school will develop and improve. We set the policies, formulate plans and agree targets to help the school achieve these objectives. We also regularly review the strategic framework in light of that progress.
As an outward facing school, we recognize the benefit to being a member of the National Governors Association and comply with The Academies Financial Handbook over the financial running of the school. Regulatory information is maintained on sector specific databases at Companies House and ‘Get Information About Schools’ (GIAS).
To exercise our roles as governors and use the wide expertise available, the full governing body delegates responsibility to a number of sub - committees, the details of which are in the links panel, but as an overview the committees are:
Finance, Buildings and Audit Committee
Strategic, Standards, Students and Curriculum Committee
Personnel Committee
JSTC governors are committed to parental and community engagement and try to work with local stakeholders for the good of the town of Alford and the wider community. There is always a minimum of two parents who sit on the Governing Body. Presently, there are four governors who are parents of students who attend the school.
If you wish to make contact with the Governing Body then we would be happy to hear from you; please contact Mr J Treasure, Clerk to the Governing Body via the Governors contact email address: governors@jstc.org.uk
Our Governing Body are:
- Mr S Curtis (Headteacher)
- Mrs E Ramm (Chair)
- Mr P Milson (Vice Chair)
- Mr J Treasure (Company Secretary)
- Mrs S Sivil (Clerk to Governors)
- Mr D Allen (Community / Parent Governor)
- Mrs T Chatterton (Staff Governor - Support Staff)
- Mr G Crust (Community Governor)
- Mrs S Gibney (Community Governor)
- Mrs A Graves (Parent Governor)
- Mr I Hart (Community Governor)
- Miss R Hickson (Parent Governor) (Declaration)
- Mrs L Iaquaniello (Community Governor)
- Dr L Pryke (Parent Governor)
- Mrs J Sharp (Staff Governor - Teaching Staff)
- Mr A Stones (Community Governor)
- Mr G Willoughby (Community Governor)
The governors are committed to parental and community engagement and there is always a minimum of two parents who sit on our governing body. Currently there are four governors who are parents of students of the school.
If you want to contact us then we would be happy to hear from you; please contact Mr J Treasure, Clerk to the Governing Body at the Academy or via the Governors contact email address: governors@jstc.org.uk.
Coronavirus Information
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Dear Parent/ Carer,
I want to reassure you that we remain vigilant with respect to the coronavirus outbreak. Our posters around school remind students to wash hands and use other simple hygiene techniques. Soap in toilet areas is checked three times a day and any reports of concerns are acted upon as a matter of urgency.
We get daily updates from the Government which we read and are guided by the advice.
I will of course contact you if there are significant developments. In the meantime we are continuing to work with your children and welcome them to school each day.
Ms J Shorrock
Coronavirus Information The Importance of hygiene
Personal hygiene is the most important way we can tackle COVID-19, especially washing hands more; and the catch it, bin it, kill it strategy for those with coughs and sneezes.
Wash your hands more often for 20 seconds with soap and hot water.
In addition to handwashing before eating and after sneezing, both children and staff should also wash hands after using toilets and after travelling on public transport.
Please help us in sharing simple and effective hand hygiene messages:
Public Health England has a dedicated webpage with a range of posters and digital materials at:
https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/101-coronavirus-/resources
Sign up is quick, free and means you will be alerted as more resources are made available.
Educational Resources
The e-Bug project is led by Public Health England and has a dedicated webpage for learning resources on hand washing and respiratory hygiene.
Resources are currently available for KS1, KS2 and KS3 and can be used in various settings including schools:
Updated travel advice for travellers returning from Italy
The advice remains the same for travellers returning from the lockdown areas of Italy, that you should self-isolate even if you are not showing symptoms. The advice for other parts of Italy has been expanded to cover the whole country: if you have returned from anywhere else in Italy outside of the lockdown areas, you should self-isolate if you develop symptoms and call NHS 111.
The latest travel guidance can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-specified-countries-and-areas
Further information on what you should do if you are asked to self-isolate can be found here:
https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2020/02/20/what-is-self-isolation-and-why-is-it-important/
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is now available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Guidance for educational settings: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus
Latest Department for Education information: https://twitter.com/educationgovuk?lang=en
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Official JSTC Newsletters are usually published quarterly, and are a quick source to some of the activities and events happening in and around school. They're also a great place to find key information about the school such as important dates and developments.
John Spendluffe Technology College
JSTC is a non-selective 11-16 co-educational school in a selective area. We are a popular, over-subscribed school of around 629 students. Despite being a secondary modern school, we have the full ability range including gifted and talented students. We are proud of the work that we do with our young people to enable them to challenge themselves academically and reach the highest of aspirations. At our most recent Ofsted inspection we were rated as ‘requires improvement’ with ‘good’ in Leadership and Management and Behaviour. We strongly encourage prospective candidates to read our positive Ofsted report which recognises that we have made much progress already towards re-gaining our ‘good’ grading. As a school we are working hard to develop our already broad curriculum offer to students to ensure that the new Ofsted framework recognises the excellent education we offer our students. We are a single academy trust but have developed strong networks and links with a range of partners and other schools locally and throughout the county, including the Lincolnshire Teaching School Alliance, Kyra Teaching School and Humber Teaching School.
The School Site
The school site has been enhanced in recent years to include two new classroom builds, a re-furbished English teaching block, a remodelled, modern canteen, and refurbishment of the original, attractive 1930s building. Car park facilities on site are free. The school has it own swimming pool, all-weather pitch and gym faciliites which are all available for staff use.
School Ethos and Values
Supporting our students and their families to achieve the highest possible aspirations to a bright future lies at the heart of our daily work in school. High quality, extensive pastoral provision enables us to fulfil this mission. Our aim is to empower our students to become ‘resilient, respectful and responsible’ in readiness for the next step of their educational journey. We are committed to serving each other, the students, and the wider community.
Our students
Our students are our best ambassadors. They come from a wide rural and coastal area with the majority travelling by bus to school. Many students are not confident about the talents and abilities when they first arrive but through the hard work of our staff, we enable our students to develop and thrive into young adulthood. Students take part in a range of activities in and out of the classroom and visitors are frequently impressed with their courtesy, and the pride that they have in their school. Our students behave well and want to learn. Some students find academic work difficult and our experienced SEND team work hard to ensure that students have an appropriate curriculum and personal support. JSTC offers its students excellent opportunities to develop skills for life as well as academic qualifications. We want all of our students to develop into caring, active citizens. JSTC has a strong coaching culture; a wide range of staff coach Year 11 students to help them improve their resilience, independence, and self-efficacy.
Committed and Friendly Staff
Our dedicated staff believe passionately in improving outcomes for all students and this can be seen in the positive relationships with each other and in the classroom. Staff are happy to teach at JSTC and want to stay. There is a low turnover of staff each year as we believe in providing opportunities for career progression at JSTC.
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Remote Education for
JSTC Students
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
We've put together a handy reference sheet for parents and carers so that, in the event of further remote learning, you have a comprehensive guide to our commitment to, and our expectations of, students when it comes to learning from home.
DOWNLOAD:
Remote Education - Letter to Parents
(18th December 2020)
Lincolnshire Road Safety
Newsletter & E-Scooter Guide
