The Griffin Gazette is Lawrence Sheriff’s new monthly newspaper.

This newsletter is produced by students and thus all ideas and sections have been formulated by our Creative Media Group, an enrichment which is run by Mrs Welch and Ms Storey.

Everyone in the Creative Media Group, from all year groups, has pushed hard to make this new newsletter a showcase of the best that our school can produce, as well as something to inform, entertain and intrigue our readers. We hope you all will enjoy this newsletter, and all feedback is welcome.

The Griffin Gazette

What’s long, strong and surprisingly popular? The answer, you may be surprised to hear, is a vertical tutor group. Tutor groups are equally comprised of students drawn from all year groups within the school, thus creating a ‘family’ of older and younger students which further strengthens the sense of community within each House.

Vertical tutoring was first introduced to Lawrence Sheriff by the school’s previous headmaster, Dr Peter Kent, in 2005. Having previously thought of ourselves as strong advocates of the horizontal, year based pastoral system that still prevails in most schools in this country, we look back on our move to a vertical system, as one of the strongest school improvement measures that we have introduced to the school, despite the fact when it was first introduced it was viewed with scepticism by staff and students.

Why set out on this process of turning upside down the conventional pastoral structure in schools? The answer initially was about personalisation of the curriculum and enabling students to become more open to new ways of studying through experiencing them on a daily basis through their tutor groups. Whilst personalisation was the ‘carrot’ that drew us into vertical tutoring, we soon found that it was not the only benefit. Schools that operated the system pointed out that it provided an opportunity to replicate within school the principle of the extended family. Whilst changing social structures meant that many students were unable to experience this outside school, within school they would be able to experience the benefits of older students being supported by younger students. Many of us have created opportunities for younger students to be mentored by older ones. However, when this contact is experienced on a daily basis, the mentoring becomes much more profound and ultimately becomes embedded within the whole structure of school life.

How does vertical tutoring help support students and prepare them for life outside of school? After nearly 20 years of vertical tutoring at Lawrence Sheriff we can confidently endorse all of its many benefits. Vertical tutoring has helped to foster an environment where students can build deeper relationships with their peers and tutors. It encourages open communication, providing opportunities for students to share concerns, and address any issues they may be facing. The presence of older students as mentors, provide a positive influence and emotional guidance. Through interactions with students from different age groups, students further develop their personal and social skills and learn to develop a broader perspective on the world. Furthermore, the vertical tutoring system has helped students with the transition from year group to year group helping to develop a true sense of an extended family,  promoting a  sense of belonging and inclusivity within the school community.  As we continue to witness the positive outcomes of vertical tutoring, its effectiveness appears to be even more relevant in preparing students for the challenges of tomorrow.

Read more: View the original Vertical Tutoring document by Dr Peter Kent

Pastoral care at Lawrence Sheriff involves extensive support and guidance for all students  in order to promote their personal development, academic success and overall well being.

A large team of dedicated staff support students throughout a variety of means to address their social, emotional and mental health needs. Heads of House and Heads of Year work together alongside form tutors to create a nurturing and inclusive environment where students feel safe, supported, and valued  throughout all aspects of school life. Our Pastoral department, which consists of three dedicated non-teaching members of staff, are always on hand to provide additional support for mental health and well-being needs. The school also employs an independent school counsellor who students can access should they need to do so.

On joining Lawrence Sheriff students are placed into a ‘House’ group (Caldecott, Kent, Tait, Simpson or Wheeler) which helps to foster a sense of belonging and community through the many House competitions that take place throughout each academic year. Students are allocated a form tutor who remains with them throughout their entire time at Lawrence Sheriff. Students spend up to 50 minutes each day with their form tutor across two tutor periods. The vertical tutor group, which students are placed in, is made up of students across all year groups, Year 7 - Year 13, and serves as an extended family. Form tutors act as a first port of call for students or parents should any problems or concerns arise. Form tutors also deliver the pastoral curriculum which encompasses PSHE, Citizenship, Current Affairs and Careers. All of these activities support students to make healthy and positive choices, helping them to grow into happy and successful adults.  In addition to Heads of House, students also have a dedicated Head of Year who provides pastoral support which is focused on academic studies throughout their time at Lawrence Sheriff. 

Lawrence Sheriff believes that students excel academically if they feel both safe and happy. Young people should be allowed to make mistakes and learn from these in a safe and nurturing environment. Growing up in today’s modern world presents a vast amount of exciting opportunities, however these opportunities are matched with challenges in equal measure. An example of this would be the online world where much of our daily tasks are carried out. The internet contains opportunities to connect with people and to carve out exciting and innovative careers; however, on the other hand, the internet can present many challenges for young people, such as how to stay safe online and remain connected with the physical world. Pastoral care at Lawrence Sheriff aims to equip young people with the necessary skills to navigate the modern world and grow into successful, happy adults.

Please click to visit the Lawrence Sheriff Pastoral site.

The house system at Lawrence Sheriff helps create competition, promotes good work and behaviour, encourages teamwork, provides opportunities to take on responsibilities and brings everyone in the school together.

The houses are named after important individuals who have been influential to the life and development of the school.

There are five houses at Lawrence Sheriff:

• Caldecott (colour: purple, logo: thistle)

• Kent (colour: yellow, logo: crown)

• Simpson (colour: green, logo: Clover)

• Tait (colour red, logo: star)

• Wheeler (colour: blue, logo: cross)

There is an opportunity to become a House Captain in each year group. The House Captains participate in organising, promoting and running events. They have regular meetings, give information and announcements and work with teachers and students to ensure that the essence of all the houses is a prominent feature in the school community.

Throughout the year, students receive points which contribute to the house competitions and these are tracked on a weekly basis. There are three strands of house competitions that run throughout the school year. These are school, sport and subject competitions.

We have regular house assemblies and school-wide assemblies where we count the individual house points and announce the winning house. Then, at the end of the year, all points are counted and the winning house for the year is announced and awards are distributed. There is a wonderful sense of inter-year camaraderie generated throughout the house system.

History of the House System at LSS

From the School History 1978: “Games were increasingly seen as a major part of school life and a major contributor to the ethos of the Grammar School. It was for this reason that in 1907 the Headmaster, Rev Hart, introduced the House system which had originated in the Public Schools. Country boys were to constitute School House while the rest were in Tait, Simpson or Caldecott according to which area of the town they lived in, so that numbers were roughly equal. There would thus be House matches in cricket and football while in School Sports any boy reaching a certain standard would score points for his house – the origin of the Grades system which still operates…An Honours Board would show each year the name of the winning house and its score for Sports, Gymnastic Competition and Steeple Chase.”

The winner of the first House Sports competition in 1907 was Caldecott – although it was somewhat different from today’s House Athletics – with slow bicycle, sack and egg races as well as handicapped events and music by the ‘Steam Shed Band’. One English summer tradition hasn’t changed since that time – “the sky had a threatening appearance and as the afternoon wore on it became uncomfortably chilly”!

For nearly 90 years, the school Houses were named after past benefactors and/or local dignitaries. Details can be found in the Leslie Wells school history e.g. page 14 (Caldecott), page 137 (Simpson), page 138 (Tait). The fourth house was just called School House, perhaps linked in some way with School House at Rugby School. The most interesting story is linked to Edwin Tait, a local auctioneer and parent. He came to school to berate Headmaster, Mr Weisse (later Whitehouse), over the flogging of his son in 1891. Whatever Mr Whitehouse said, Mr Tait left school mollified and subsequently presented a cup for the Champion Athlete. This was the first ever cup to be donated to the school, and still the only one to mark a past altercation between the Head and a parent.

However, it was announced in December 1963 by Mr Alan Staveley, the Headmaster at that time, that nearly 20 years after former Headmaster Cordy Wheeler had left the school the existing School House was being re-named Wheeler House. It appears that it may have been a unilateral decision announced along the lines of “Rhoades has his medal, Whitehouse has his quad and Hart has his field, so Wheeler now has his house.”

In 2020, the school implemented a significant change by increasing its Year 7 intake from 120 pupils to 150 pupils. The Board of Governors made the decision to establish a new House, which has been aptly named Kent House, in honour of Dr. Peter Kent. This was in recognition of Dr Kent’s exceptional dedication and outstanding contributions to the school community throughout his tenure of  23 years and 1 term - Lawrence Sheriff’s longest serving headteacher.

The Eco Committee

The Lawrence Sheriff School Eco Committee is a proactive student-lead body which has consistently worked to reduce our school's environmental footprint.  The Committee has spearheaded numerous initiatives and improvements across the school site. Such projects include implementing plastics recycling and distributing a brand-new fleet of our trademark wheelie bins, boosting biodiversity by renovating seed beds and conducting "Switch it off!" campaigns to reduce Sheriff's carbon footprint.  Work to promote environmentally-friendly behaviour both within school and the wider community has proved successful, and the committee will continue to embark on new projects in the future.

“Change attitudes - change actions - change the world.”

By Oliver (Y10)

Aims and purpose of the Eco Committee

The Eco Committee’s ultimate goals are to improve the sustainability of our school, raise awareness for the environment, and drive positive change for the future.

Reduce our use of non-sustainable goods

Reuse what we can so we don't need to make more.

Recycle what we can't reuse, so that it can be used somewhere else.

Repeat these actions, make them into habits and slowly but surely better our world.

The Committee

The Eco Committee runs as an enrichment on Tuesdays and Thursdays. During these sessions there is a range of activities that take place all led by the students.  We strategise, complete audits, garden, plan projects and meetings to make our school more eco friendly.  We also discuss ideas for our next projects. Our members work on Kahoots, PowerPoints, and posters to raise awareness in the school community about the issues that affect our world and how we can help.

The Eco Committee within the school community

The committee focuses on different areas of the Eco Schools ten topics.  For Biodiversity and School Grounds we have created wildlife friendly areas around the school site, built bird boxes and hedgehog houses and have placed them around the school, planted trees at Hartfield and bulbs and annuals in our wildflower garden.  For Waste and Litter we have introduced school wide plastic recycling and litter picks, and are working with the canteen to go single use plastic free.  We also run yearly events and audits such as switch off fortnight to develop our awareness on the Energy topic.  For Healthy Living we have encouraged students to cycle to school and have grown spider plants and placed one in every classroom. We have raised money through activities such as Green Week and communicate with parents, the PA and Governors throughout the year.

Awards

The Green Flag Award (Distinction) 2018-2023

Woodland Trust Platinum Award 2022

Links and information

https://www.eco-schools.org.uk/

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/

Contacts

For any questions please contact

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please click on the logo above for the Gilbert website



Please click the link above for the Gilbert Online PE store

Following government guidelines we will carry out as much of our PE curriculum outside as possible. We will be starting on Cricket (football in poor weather) and Hockey during the first half term however our options are under constant review and we are looking at introducing Rugby as soon as possible. We will keep the students up to date on what they need to bring for each lesson.

For all PE/games lessons students will need boots, shin pads & gum shields. For double lessons, in addition to the above students should bring trainers for Hockey.

Students will receive their timetable on their return to school and we will talk them through what to expect in each lesson. 

I am aware that sourcing LSS indoor and outdoor PE kits might be delayed from our supplier and we will allow plenty of time for things to settle back to normal, hopefully orders will be fulfilled no later than October half term. 

In the event that you cannot get the correct kit please send your son in with a signed note and any appropriate sporting attire (Indoor - shorts, t-shirt and socks / Outdoor - shorts or trousers, t-shirt, base layers, jumper or jacket, gloves, warm hat). REMINDER - clothing should be White or blue/navy where possible, no hoodies or large coats.

Timothy Orford

Head of PE