Headteacher's Blog #12

On Monday I discovered that the word phrase 'rage bait' was the Oxford university Press's word of the year. Now before I send this week's blog, I can assure you it is not meant to be rage bait, I have no desire to deliberately agitate the LSA community, I discovered in my first week that I had inadvertently become rage bait myself. Who knew that laying down ground rules that the vast majority of schools had been applying for over a decade would make so many people so rageful. We are all just a little bit rageful these days and are sometimes guilty, I think, of not stopping to truly think why something is being done before our rage vein starts pulsating.

 Next week I will be sending out my end of term letter to parents. We will be having an early closure (I am not yet the Grinch that killed Christmas) however we will not be having a non-uniform day. Although Lytham St Annes gives the veneer of affluence there are within our school community those for whom non-school uniform days are a massive hurdle to their self-esteem and attendance to school. School uniform is one the great democratising forces of British education. You can look at students in uniform and be none the wiser who are the 'haves' and who are the 'have nots', once the non-school uniform day comes into force it becomes apparent and many parents get put under pressure to buy clothes they can't really afford, for one day where their children try to keep up. Christmas for many of us is already stressful enough. I am paid to do what is right, not what is popular. I hope that you all understand.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who supported the school in petitioning against the installation of a large phone mast next to the bus stop, directly outside the school. I am delighted to say that the planning permission was rejected. Thank you all, this made me immensely proud to be LSA and is a testament to our strong and united community spirit.