Students must be on school site by 8:47am and ensure they are in tutor time by 8:50am at the latest. The school gates lock at 8:47am and detentions will be set for any students arriving after this. We should remember that, at LHS, we have a later start at 8:50am than many other schools locally.

Following a review of our security procedures, we have changed the school opening time in the morning. From now on, school will open at 8:00am, no earlier. We are sorry if this affects a few students who used to arrive before this time, but I am sure you will all understand that for safety reasons the gate cannot remain open without supervision in the morning.

Uniform

All students need to be smart and follow the school uniform policy. We will be continuing with our uniform line-ups to check students are getting this right. This term, we have introduced daily uniform line-ups (currently for Year 7 and Year 8 students only) at 2:02pm every day on the tennis courts. 

Please reinforce with your child(ren) the following key school uniform rules:

• school shoes should be plain black and able to be polished. Trainers must not be worn. We are generous in allowing Air Force Ones, as long as they are black. However, the tag must be removed from the laces;
• students must not wear leggings to school. Students in leggings will be issued with a detention (Same Day Sanction or SDS) and given a skirt to wear in school;
• students cannot wear hooped earrings. Single studs only can be worn. No other styles of earrings are acceptable, for safety reasons;
• we may have a period of warm weather in the autumn, so we thought it was useful to remind parents about our rules on school shorts, which can be worn all year round. Shorts must be smart, tailored, black and appropriate for school. Students must not wear sports shorts to school. This rule will not change, out of fairness to those families who have purchased tailored shorts already this year;
• our full uniform expectations can be found on the website.

Tutors will be checking basic stationery and uniform every morning. If there is a valid reason why your child isn’t in the correct uniform, please send a note with them or email the tutor before school; however, this will only be authorised for one day. For longer periods, please contact the Head of Year.

Information on our uniform policy can be found here: Little Heath School - Uniform

Stationery Requirements

It is also essential that students are equipped with everything they need for their lessons, every day:

• black or blue pens (please bring more than one in);
• pencil (more than one);
• rubber;
• ruler;
• glue stick;
• highlighters;
• Maths equipment, including calculator;
• reading book (for DEAR time);
• water bottle;
• PE kit. 

Further details on our stationery requirements can be found online here: Little Heath School - Equipment and Stationery

As you will be aware, we have made a real difference over the last few years by implementing a clear and consistent Behaviour for Learning policy at the school. With this in mind, we wanted to start the new term by communicating again with students and parents, reminding us all of our key principles, the things that students need to do consistently in order to maximise their chances of success at the school:

• “Students need to be in lessons, learning.”

Students are in school to learn, and they need to be in lessons to do so. This has become the central philosophy of our Behaviour for Learning policy – we are continuing our high expectations of students not leaving lessons, except in exceptional circumstances. We will continue to issue sanctions for students who leave lessons without permission.

• “Students need to be active in their own learning.”

Students need to take a very active approach to their own learning, rather than passively sitting in class. We have seen this approach making a difference for all students, in all year groups, across the curriculum. Of course, it also applies to learning at home, especially in terms of revision for examinations or assessments.

• “Students need to do what they are told, when they are told to do it.”

There is a time for questions and discussions, but this should take place after a lesson and in a calm environment, and not when a direct instruction is given. We expect students to follow instructions given by any member of staff.

• “Punctuality is a vital skill for life.”

Punctuality is an important life skill, as well as being critical to allowing students to engage with a full lesson so that they make good progress. Often, the first five minutes of a lesson are the most important. We have seen huge improvements with this over the past two years, but we want student punctuality to be even better.

We will continue our successful approach of only having 'warning bells' at the start of the day, and at the end of break and lunch. These bells will ring three minutes before students need to be in their correct classrooms. This means that students need to be in the room at 11:20am at the end of break, and 14:05pm at the end of lunch. If students are late, they will be issued with a lunchtime DT, in the same way as arriving late for school. Other sanctions for lateness to lessons will remain.

We set a minimum target of 96% attendance for students. We understand that illness does happen and cannot be helped, but we also encourage resilience.

If your child is too ill to attend school, for safeguarding reasons, you must email attendance@littleheath.org.uk before 8.30am every day your child is absent and clearly state who they are and specifically why they are absent.

If your child is worried about anything, please contact the tutor or HOY sooner rather than later so we can work together to remove any potential barriers to attending.

For more information, visit our website: Little Heath School - Report an Absence

As you will know, the government has recently placed considerable emphasis on schools having clear policies around mobile phone use in schools.

We have decided to strengthen our existing policy rather than doing anything more revolutionary, because this system really worked when it was first introduced. Here is the key section from our “Behaviour policy.

”Mobile phones and smart devices must not be used or visible during the school day. Devices should remain switched off and stored in bags.

If a mobile phone is seen or heard by a member of staff during the school day, it will be confiscated. Parents will be informed and they must collect the phone from school.

In exceptional circumstances, a parent may request that the phone is returned to their child at the end of the school day, if, for example, they are unable to come to school and the student needs their mobile device in order to catch the bus home.

Repeated use of a mobile phone in school could lead to a parental meeting, with a mobile phone ban being used as a last resort for students who persistently and wilfully do not follow the rules.

To strengthen the policy further and make sure there is no room for confusion, we are reminding parents, and students during the welcome back assemblies, that phones should be switched off and away in bags as soon as students are on school site.

If the strengthening of this policy is not successful, we will have to look carefully at a more stringent solution, e.g. pouches for phones, which some schools have introduced.

Sixth Form Mobile Phone Policy

Sixth form students are permitted to use mobile phones and other smart devices, including smartwatches, within the designated sixth form centre, provided they follow all staff instructions and use devices appropriately for study and independent learning.

Outside the sixth form centre, including in corridors, social areas, and the main school site, sixth form students are subject to the same expectations as KS3 and KS4 students (as above). Mobile phones and smart devices must not be seen or heard during the school day and will be confiscated if this rule is breached.

It is essential that both parents and students have the Arbor App (there is a parent and a student version) to monitor house points, behaviour points, and detentions. The app is a great way to keep an eye on how your child is doing at school. It also allows you to see any planned timetable or room changes for the day.

As well as the Arbor App, students and parents should have the Satchel One app. We use this to set all homework. Usually, teachers will set homework in class and let students know that fuller instructions and any attachments will be on Satchel One. Sometimes homework is also set by the HOD or KS Leader.

Students need to get into good study habits by checking Satchel One regularly and completing homework to the best of their ability, something vital to academic success.

Any problems with Satchel One or Arbor, please contact the KS Admin team:

• KS3 – Ms Guppy: nguppy@littleheath.org.uk
• KS4 – Mrs Perry: jperry@littleheath.org.uk
• KS5 – Mrs Taplin: ctaplin@littleheath.org.uk

Our adapted procedures for detentions had a hugely positive impact last academic year. We are not making any changes to the procedures this year, but thought it was worth reminding students and parents of how they work, before the new term begins.

Parents will be informed about any praise or behaviour points, and also any detentions, via Satchel One as usual.

The only way to request that a detention can be rearranged is by completing this form, before 12:00pm on the day the detention is due to be held. This system has been positively received by parents, but we must be consistent in all such situations, otherwise it is not fair on other students and parents who are following the rules. Staff will not be able to rearrange a detention over the phone or via email. This is to ensure fairness for all.

We would like to remind you that detentions will only be rearranged for the same reasons a child might miss school (e.g. a medical appointment). 

There are lots of avenues of support for you in school. Please do talk to us at any time if you have any worries or concerns about anything.

The first port of call is the child’s tutor, but there is a lot of other support:

• Key Stage office (Progress Leader and Head of Year);
• Assistant Heads and other members of the school’s Senior Leadership Team;
• Mr Linz (Student Wellbeing Office);
• The Student Support team and Safeguarding Team.

The introduction of the bicycle licence has improved bike safety and security on school site and in the local community. We will continue to operate this system. All licences from last year will still be valid.

New Year 7 students will be able to apply for a licence at the start of term, and tutors will explain how to do this at the start of term. There is also further information here: Little Heath School - Transport to School

Students from other Year Groups who now wish to ride a bicycle to school (and did not last year) can apply for a licence in the normal way. Again, tutors will reinforce this next week in their extended tutor period.

Please can you remind your child that they must wear a cycle helmet while they are cycling to school, and that they must cycle safely on school site and in the local area.

Tempest will be in school on Monday and Tuesday next week to take the school photographs. The schedule is below. Tutors will remind students of the timings on Monday, but please also pass this message on at home.

Please note:

• Students should look smart and dress in the correct school uniform, or in line with the Sixth Form dress code.
• If a student is absent on Monday, tutors will arrange for the photograph to be taken on Tuesday.

Details will follow on how to purchase photographs in the next couple of weeks.

We have made some changes to offices and other rooms across the school, to make areas in school more accessible and sensible in their positioning. We will explain these changes in the welcome back assemblies at the start of term, but we thought it would be useful to inform parents of some changes that are directly relevant to students.

The Key Stage 3 office has moved to be adjacent to the Key Stage 4 office, so all pastoral support is in one central location.

A number of rooms have moved within the Student Support department, including Ms Button’s office, Mr Linz’s office and the Student Support room. Behaviour Hub has moved, but not far – just down the corridor in B2.

We are planning a new location for the Prayer room, but this is not yet finalised. We will let students know as soon as possible – for now it will remain in A19 in the short term.

Please note that Miss Glasgow has taken over the role of Pupil Premium Progress Leader. If you need to contact her, please email eglasgow@littleheath.org.uk

Please see the attached letter with details of some changes to the catering provision pricing: Culinera Parent Letter September 2026

You can also find the full tariff list here: Culinera Tariff - September 2026

You can find more information about the catering provision at Little Heath on our website here: Little Heath School | Catering

We were experiencing issues with topping up student accounts on the ParentMail app earlier this week. It appears to have now been resolved. Apologies for any inconvenience.

The autumn extra curricular timetable is currently being finalised and will be shared on the school website and via the Weekly News Bulletin next week.