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Latest news
The Academy will be open for all students as usual on Monday 6th February
We would ask parents who are dropping students off at the academy to take maximum care when entering the car park due to the conditions.
Longfield Academy - iPads in Action Conference - 9th March 2012
Following the success and feedback from our first iPads in Action Conference in December 2011 we have decided to hold a second conference on the 9th March 2012 - 11.30am to 4pm.
The event will cover the following areas: Vision, Planning and Delivery, Technical Issues and iLearning with the iPads. The cost of the conference is £50 per person and will also include lunch and refreshments. There will also be a tour around the Academy and an opportunity to talk to representatives from the e-Learning Foundation who have worked closely with us during the planning and delivery phases.
The Academy is easily accessible from the M25 and is within walking distance from Longfield railway station on the mainline from Victoria.
If you would like to attend this conference, please contact Alison Williams - Events Manager to book your space(s). A formal outline of the event will be forwarded on receipt of an email expression of interest.
alison.williams@longfieldacademy.org
New Telescope Bistro Open 2012 The new Telescope Bistro serves modern European cuisine every Tuesday lunchtime from 12:00pm.
Food is prepared and served by Post 16 students following City & Guilds Diplomas in Professional Cookery and is led by our Chef Lecturer, Daniel Mullings.
Three courses - £8.00
The Telescope is located in Galileo College, one of Longfield Academy’s three Colleges, and has 24 covers.
For contact details and reservations please click here
New Key Stage 4 Prospectus Available Longfield Academy is changing fast. Its GCSE results have transformed over the last three years and in May 2011, Ofsted judged us to be a, ‘Good school with many outstanding features’. Our new building opened in September 2011 and we are firmly on course to achieving our aim of becoming an ‘outstanding school’.
New Key Stage 4 Propspectus and application forms are availabe.
Download here.....
Academy wins prestigious national award Longfield Academy is delighted to announce that it has won a national ICT award for its ground breaking iPad scheme at the recent Education Business Awards were held on 10th November 2011 at the Emirates Stadium, London.
The Academy was nominated in two categories:
Outstanding Academy of the Year - Awarded to the specialist academy that can demonstrate outstanding progress both in its specialisms and in general education.Other academies nominated were from London, Bristol, Doncaster and Barnsley.
ICT Facility Award - Awarded to the educational establishment in the UK that has made outstanding progress in the provision of a first class environment for the teaching of ICT and related subjects. Other nominees were from Birmingham, Essex and Worcester.
Schools were represented from across the country and Longfield faced very strong competition in both categories, but it won the Academy walked away with the ICT Facility Award, presented by newscaster Moira Stewart. Further details and photos can be found at the awards website:
Education Business Awards website
Watch the new £25m Longfield Academy Virtual Tour Video
Longfield Academy has set up an official You Tube Channel so you can view videos of the new Academy. The first video is a virtual tour of the new build and has been created by students from the Academy.
New Longfield Academy Official You Tube Channel
Longfield Academy celebrated record breaking GCSE results....again! Particularly impressive was the high number of students receiving the very highest grades at GCSE. In total, 20% of students achieved 3 A*-A grades.
Overall, a stunning 98% of students achieved 5+ A*-C grades, with 40% doing so including English and Maths.
The Academy Principals (Simon Beamish, Anne Davis and Neil Willis) would like to thank all staff, students and parents for their hard work and congratulate them on their richly deserved achievements. We look forward to welcoming students back in the Sixth Form.
98% of students achieved 5+A*-C grades
40% of students achieved 5+A*-C grades, including English & Maths
20% of students achieved 3+ A*-A grades
9% of students achieved 5+ A*-A grades
Excellent individual performances
Ethan Bonthron: 8As; 2Bs
Jessica Ames: 4As; 3Bs; 6Cs
Chelsea Bennett: 4As; 2Bs; 10Cs
Sonny Daniels: 4A*s; 5As; 6Cs
Mitchell Dossiter: 4As; 1B; 9Cs
Thaveesh Fernando; 4As; 5Bs; 5Cs
Rachel Gilder: 4As; 6Bs; 4Cs
Laura Gray: 4As; 6Bs; 4Cs
Jack Holmes: 2A*s; 6As; 6Bs
Jasmine Maidment; 6As; 7Bs
Kaputo Mazokera: 3A*s; 6As; 2Bs; 2Cs
Elliott Mulley-Goodbarne: 4As; 5Bs; 4Cs
Lindsay Nixon: 2A*s; 8As; 3Bs; 1C
Charles Osinloye: 2A*s; 12As; 1B
Charlotte Roberts: 9As; 4Bs
Holley Storey Smith: 5As; 2Bs; 6Cs
Longfield Academy A Level Results 2011 Excellent A Level results were celebrated at Longfield Academy this week. The Academy continued to make significant progress in the grades achieved by students. The grades are a testament to the hard work of staff, students and parents, and are richly deserved. A summary can be found below.
% of grades at A*-A = 10 Achieved 2011
% of grades at A*-C = 65 Achieved 2011
% of grades at A*-E = 99 Achieved 2011
Points score per candidate (QCA) = 696 Achieved 2011
Points score per entry (QCA) = 223 Achieved 2011
Excellent individual performances
Longfield Academy, The Leigh Technology Academy and Wilmington Academy operate a Post 16 Consortium where students can study courses in all three centres. This provides students with access to outstanding provision across the Leigh Trust and a much greater number of courses to study, both academic and vocational.
Stephanie Davies: 4As
Sophia Stevens: 3As
Shane Reeves: 2As; 2Bs
Daniel Crittenden: 2As; 1B
Quote from Frank Green (CEO)
"The impact of Leigh Academies Trust as a federation of schools is clear to see from these results. The capacity to share best practice and to work together has benefitted students at all 3 academies (Longfield, The Leigh and Wilmington).
All our students are to be congratulated on these results and the teachers and staff at all the academies take enormous credit for what they are doing. I am extremely proud of them all. That 2/3 of all A-level results are at A*-C grades at Longfield and The Leigh is truly outstanding.”
Contacting the Academy The academy has a range of new telephone numbers which we hope will make communication with the academy easier. From 18th July these will be:
Main academy reception (01474) 700700
Academy fax (01474) 700701
If your son or daughter is absent from the academy you should contact the Attendance Team on (01474) 700715. You can ring this number at anytime and leave a message on the answer phone.
If you want to contact someone in your son / daughters college you will be able to ring that college administration team directly on:
Anderson College (01474) 700740
Galileo College (01474)700780
Matisse College (01474) 700760
Bite the Ballot!
Bite the Ballot hosted a debate at Wilmington Academy asking schools to discuss political participation.
Conservative MP for Dartford, Gareth Johnson, Head of Dartford Council, Jeremy Kite and student Daina Brown were on the panel to decide who had the strongest argument. The winner would get a tour of Parliament.
All schools called for more political participation. The schools had 30mins to prepare a 5 minute argument. There was also some time for questions and answers.
The participating schools were Wilmington Grammar School for Girls, Dartford Grammar School for Boys, Longfield Academy, Wilmington Academy, and Dartford Technology College.
And the winner was…Longfield Academy!
Dartford Debates in Style! - click here for an external story on Bite the Ballot website.........
Longfield Academy Ofsted Inspection (May 2011) “We were very impressed!” (Ofsted)
Longfield Academy is celebrating a very successful Ofsted Inspection which took place on 25-26 May 2011.
Longfield Academy was judged to be a ‘Good’ school with many ‘Outstanding’ features, including all aspects of leadership and management.
Quotes from the inspection report:
“Things have changed dramatically in the three years since Longfield Academy opened”.
“The Academy is extremely well placed to continue its improvement”.
“Achievement is rising rapidly”.
“The way in which staff care for and support students are significant strengths”.
“The three Principals provide the Academy with highly effective leadership”.
“The Sixth Form has improved rapidly”.
“Partnership work is excellent”.
“Teaching is now good in the large majority of lessons; it is sometimes outstanding”.
Frank Green CEO of The Leigh Academies Trust comments, “This is an excellent Ofsted Report. It is testament to very hard work and commitment of staff, students and the wider community”.
Simon Beamish, Anne Davis and Neil Willis, the Academy’s three Principals would like to thank all staff, students, parents / carers for their invaluable commitment to ensure such rapid improvement.
The Academy’s academic results have doubled in just two years and are set to rise again this year. The Academy has been over-subscribed in Year 7 for the past two years and has a rapidly growing Sixth Form where students can also access courses at The Leigh Technology Academy and Wilmington Academy.
Longfield Academy moves into its brand new, state of the art, £25m new building in July this year which will ensure that the school continues to move from strength to strength.
Simon Beamish, Anne Davis and Neil Willis – Principals
01474 705951
Frank Green, CEO
01322 620402
Longfield Academy
Main Road
Longfield, Kent, DA3 7PH
Email: info@longfieldacademy.org
Additional questions received during the 121 Parents Event
- At the end of the three years and the child is still in school - will they get a new devise or an updated one?
- How often will the devices be replaced to keep up with technology?
- Will the children be updated with a new machine if an upgrade happens i.e. ipad3 is launched?
- What happens after 3 years do we get new ones?
- A 10 hour battery life means that learning continues through the day on one charge?
- At the end of the three years and the child is still In school - will they get a new devise or an updated one?
At the end of the three year donation period parents may chose to rejoin the scheme for a further period. At that point students would be eligible for the version of the device that is available at that point. Students may well however chose to continue to use the iPad that they have as it still meets their needs. There is no capacity within the scheme for students to automatically receive a new device each time Apple launches a new one. Of course there will be software updates issued by Apple from time to time (such as to the web browser ‘Safari’) and students will be able to download them free of charge when they are available.
- Won't this make our children a target for theft once word gets round they all have these devices?
- Do you think our children will be safe going to and from and school with these devices?
- Isn't there a safety issue with children carrying an expensive item in public?
One reason for choosing the iPad is that it will fit inconspicuously within most bags out of sight. Advice we have received from the e-Learning Foundation is that in their experience, working with over 400 schools nationally, such incidents are very rare, and this is for schools where students carry highly visible computer bags. We can not promise that issues will not take place and this one reason why we have included insurance within the package we are offering. We will make it a high priority for students receive appropriate guidance about use of the iPad in the wider community.
- Teenagers being teenagers, and by accidents, I would assume there may well be a high percentage of these items being damaged?
We know that students love their iPad and take care of them as a consequence. We have had a number on trial with Year 11 students throughout this year being used at the Academy and home and we have had no problems of damage or breakage. The iPad has no moving parts, and the exterior is made from toughened glass (the same as on aircraft cockpits) and aluminium allowing them to be both light and durable. However accidents can happen and this is why we have included insurance in our package. The Academy will however be vigilant for malicious and recurrent damage, and appropriate action will be taken if this is found to have occurred.
- Does this mean less contact with teachers?
In the Academy students will be working with the devices in conjunction with the teachers. They are a tool to assist the students to learn better wherever they are working and can never replace student – teacher interaction
- Don’t you think children spend too much time now on computers. Children’s eyesight will be affected?
It is a fact that computers and other devices are increasingly important in education, employment and life in general. The iPad is one tool that will help our students develop their learning in new and exciting ways. They will not replace the pen, pencil, or other tools or materials that are appropriate to many types of activity. Students must have access to high quality and up to date IT equipment wherever and whenever necessary to be successful in the future. There is no evidence to suggest that if an iPad is used correctly that there is any impact on their eyesight.
- Will we be able to see what our children have done in class each day?
You will be able to access the work that has been undertaken in lessons through the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
- What happens if we stop donating after 6 months?
We would ask you to talk to us should you feel the need to do this.
The payment options are outlined on the Donation Form sent to your home addressees.
- Which iPad model will the device be and what size memory?
The device will be the new iPAd2 16GB wifi model (http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad)
1-2-1 iPad Scheme
Through this year we have been developing a scheme that will revolutionise learning in the new Academy and at home. Through it we are giving every student the chance to use an iPad to improve their learning where ever they are. This newsletter explains why we are doing this, answers questions we have been asked along the way and details explaining how your family can take part.
Parents Events
On the 30th March two parents events were carried out where the vision for the scheme was outlined and the iPad project manager from Apple demonstrated the educational applications of the device. A survey was taken amongst the large number of people at the event, and question that were raised are answered overleaf. Well over 90% of respondents said that they would wish to take part in the scheme, with a number who were undecided or did not wish to participate.
Why have an iPad at the Academy and home?
Through extensive research we believe that:
- Young people enjoy learning through technology enhancing motivation, this in turn helps them achieve better results
- There is access to up to date information as text, sound, images, video often in an interactive format. People learn best in a variety of ways, the iPad supports these different learning styles
- The students can link easily with their work where ever they are
- Light, portable and is very easily carried in a bag
- A 10 hour battery life means that learning continues through the day on one charge
- Light, portable and is very easily carried in a bag
If you want to find out more about a similar project throughout the state of Victoria in Australia visit www.ipadsforeducation.vic.edu.au
What is the iPad scheme
We are working with a national charity – the eLearning Foundation – to offer an opportunity to all of our students to take part in a donation scheme. This scheme, which will operate from September 2011, will provide the following:
- An iPad2
- A range of Apps through the Academy
- Protective Case
- Insurance over 3 years– covering damage and theft
- In school support for the device
- Access to Virtual Learning Platform providing lesson and homework resources
- A commitment to use the devices for learning throughout the Academy day
So how does this scheme work?
Your son or daughter would use the iPad at the Academy and take home each day to use at home. To operate the scheme the Academy needs to be able to finance the project. For this reason we are suggesting a donation of £16 per month over 3 years for each device with the other elements above. As a ‘donation scheme’ this will allow us to meet HMRC rules that allow us to reclaim ‘Gift Aid’ to further support the project. We are seeking to ensure all students can access it. If you wish your child to participate but the suggested donation level presents a difficulty we would encourage you to talk to us. Over the 3 years, the iPad remains the property of the Academy, but at the conclusion of this period we will make arrangements under the tax rules to enable ownership to be transferred to you. Alternatively you may purchase the package as above for a one off payment of £576.
Why are we asking parents to contribute?
- It’s about helping your child to learn whilst they are at home.
- Academy funds don’t stretch to letting each student use a device when and where they want.
- Current priorities have to be on the new Academy building IT infrastructure e.g. high speed Internet links, equipping and training the teachers, Interactive Whiteboards and learning software.
We would like our son/ daughter to take part...what do we do?
You will find an enclosed Donation Form to the eLearning Foundation. They are collecting the donations for us and managing the Gift Aid process. Complete the form and return it to the Main Academy Office as soon as possible. We will do the rest. But we understand that some families will find it hard to contribute the same as everyone else. We would encourage you discuss this with us if this is a concern to you.
Please return the Donation Form by Friday 6th May
e-learning foundation
An education charity that started in 2001, their aim is ‘to reduce the effect of this “Digital Divide” by working with schools, parents and other stakeholders to ensure that all children have access to learning technologies when and where they need them, both at home and at school.’ They currently work with around 400 schools and 100,000 children across the UK. Further information can be found at www.e-learningfoundation.com
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