LiFe Link at Lord's Hill
Spring term 2021
Welcome to our first edition of The LiFe Link at Lord’s Hill! You are reading our very first half-termly newsletter on all things LiFe at Lord’s Hill. We are thrilled to keep you up to date with how our students are growing their skills, developing them into well-rounded citizens able to cope in today’s world.
Let’s start at the very beginning!
The LiFe Curriculum
In September 2020, we launched our LiFe Curriculum in order to encompass all elements of your young person’s Personal Development; student Leadership, developing personal identity in our society, Futures, careers and wider opportunities, and enrichment through extra-curricular offers. Students have two dedicated 30 minute Life sessions per week, and one assembly, led by their Head of Year. All LiFe sessions support our young learners, both physically and mentally, in becoming global citizens, ready for LiFe beyond Lord’s Hill.
More recently, we have launched the LiFe section of the website, that outlines our vision and rationale for the curriculum, including its content across all 4 strands. Don’t forget our LiFe Twitter account! Please do follow this account to keep up to date with our vibrant LiFe provision.
#LiFeMatters
Spotlight on LiFe: Leadership
Providing opportunities for Student Leadership equips all our learners with valuable preparation for adult life and practising skills needed to succeed. We are delighted, and proud, to have a 12 member Senior Student Council in year 11, two tutor representatives in each tutor group, and a group of cross-year Anti-Bullying Ambassadors. The crucial work of building Student Leadership opportunities at Lord’s Hill remains in its first stages, but we hope to build upon this year on year; Well-being Champions, Prefects, and Future Leaders in every year group.
In November, our Senior Council launched a week-long Twitter Takeover and designed all LiFe sessions for a Charity Week. The total raised for two local charities (No Limits and Southampton Hospital’s Charity Trust) was an impressive £504.
In December, our Tutor Reps were invited to present their local Lord’s Hill Global Goals. This was following our LiFe sessions exploring Unicef’s Global Goals.
We were blown away by their ideas and presenting skills- well done to all. Ideas for driving change across our academy included:
- Gender equality and anti-bullying campaigns
- Environmental Intervention: Reducing Plastic Pollution
- Health and Well-being : Fundraising for the NHS and student well-being workshops
- Zero Hunger: Creating food banks for the local community
- Zero Poverty: Tackling rising local unemployment
We are pleased to be able to announce the following winners. They will each receive an Amazon gift voucher, and we hope to implement these ideas around the Academy, and the community, when we are back onsite.
Well done to everyone who took part.
Best Community Idea:
Ciaran H 11SGE with his online job help site linked to the Futures strand of the LiFe Curriculum; ending zero poverty- advice for our local community on how to successfully write CVs and apply for work .
Best Global Goal:
Rebecca D 7JPA with her idea of a local voluntary litter-pick to reduce plastic pollution
Best Presentation:
Manvi S and Maciej P 8XBE with their idea of improving student well-being provision using student voice support groups
Student Survey Results: My Thoughts on Remote Learning
Last week during LiFe sessions, all students were invited to participate in a student survey to gather important student feedback on learning online. Student voice is crucial in driving change and progress across the Academy, and we want our students to help pilot their own educational journey at Lord’s Hill. Over 300 students took part, and we were blown away by their honesty, dedication and positive words. Thank you to all who completed this. Rest assured that Academy Leaders are working behind the scenes acting on student suggestions and comments.
We would like to share some of the key findings with you. We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we did.
Question:
(Name a teacher, who for you, has stood out as making learning remotely easier to understand/follow/more enjoyable) and tell us why this teacher has had a positive impact on your learning.
Question:
Question:
This term’s LiFe Curriculum focus; Well-being and Inner Health
At Lord’s Hill, we know that promoting and nourishing good mental health and well-being, is of paramount importance for our learners, staff and community. In this edition of LiFe Link, I would like to draw your attention of recent opportunities to further support the inner well-being of our students.
During this time of remote learning, we know that well-being matters more than ever, and that we must signpost offers of support at all times. Last week was designated National Children’s Mental Health Week, but we want to ensure our student body has access to well-being support, and information, at all times. We encourage our students to talk with their tutors, Heads of Year, or Pastoral leaders, in the first instance, should they have any concerns, issues or just want to celebrate an achievement/ piece of work. There are also outside agencies who are trained and ready to help- these are listed at the end of this communication.
#ChildrensMentalHealthWeek
Student Well-being Workshops
For the foreseeable future, we will be running Woodman and Lea’s Well-being Workshops from 3-3.30pm via Teams every Monday, for all year groups. These voluntary workshops are designed to raise a smile, be interactive, and provide regular and informal contact with a member of the Academy Leadership Team, Mrs Lea, and the Director of Ethos and Hub, Mr Woodman. Students are able to chat, or just listen, on various well-being strategies and topics.
These started mid-January, and continue as follows:
- w/beg 18th Jan: Introduction to well-being and Breathing for anxiety
- w/beg 25th Jan: Fitness - I’m a celebrity Workout ; special guest PE teacher Mr Parker
- w/beg 1st Feb: Music - special guest Mr Souter and his ‘Souter’s Songs quiz’
- w/beg 8th Feb: Music and Song writing; special guest and Lord’s Hill alumni Tyrone
- w/beg 22nd Feb: Art - learn to draw with special guest Mr Bartlett
- w/beg 1st March: Science - LIVE experiment time with Mrs Bennett
- w/beg 8th March: Fitness - the return of Mr Parker……
Video: Ex-student, Tyrone.
Please do encourage your son/daughter to attend all, or some of these online workshops, to help them keep in touch beyond the curriculum: they just accept the weekly Teams invite. Students also have access to the Woodman and Lea Teams page where key well-being information, and sharing of ideas and hobbies is encouraged. On this Teams page, you can also find a recording of the sessions, to view later.
The Oasis 9 Habits
February’s Oasis 9 habit celebrates the importance of being Compassionate. At Lord’s Hill, we desire to be compassionate and kind whilst acting justly. Compassion is the ability and willingness to place ourselves in the position of another and, as a result, be able to show kindness to them, without ignoring or dismissing the truth about their situation. To support our school ethos and vision, please spend a few moments discussing the following questions with your family:
- How can you show greater compassion through the way you speak and listen to others?
- What stops you from helping others – time pressure, your perception of their need, something else? What can you do about this?
- Has anyone shown compassion to you recently? How did it make you feel? How do you think it made them feel? What can you learn from this?
- How does acting compassionately impact your well-being?
Signposts to Support
No Limits is a charity offering free and confidential information, advice, counselling, advocacy and support to children and young people under the age of 26 in Southampton and Hampshire. Young people can come to No Limits for free support on a wide range of issues including housing, homelessness, debt, employment, relationships, sexual health, mental health and substance misuse. Support is offered at the No Limits Advice Centre in Central Southampton and through outreach work delivered in schools and colleges across Hampshire.
t: 02380 224 224
e: enquiries@nolimitshelp.org.uk
MindShift is a free app designed to help teens and young adults cope with anxiety. It can help you change how you think about anxiety. Rather than trying to avoid anxiety, you can make an important shift and face it. Lists symptoms of anxiety. Offers strategies to manage worry, panic, conflict, ordinary anxiety, and three specialised categories of anxiety: test anxiety, social anxiety, and perfectionism. Also contains relaxation exercises.
We hope that our students continue to feel valued and part of our Lord’s Hill community, despite not being physically present. We look forward to supporting all our students in embracing good well-being habits, and encouraging being proactive in seeking any support that they need.
We encourage you to make contact with us to share your community Life stories. Please email: liz.lea@oasislordshill.org.
Thank you for linking with us .
See you next half-term for more LiFe Link at Lord’s Hill.