I believe we have all the ingredients of a great school and I am determined to make sure that Lightcliffe Academy is the school of choice in our local community.

We are on a journey, a very exciting journey and I want to make sure that everyone – our students, our staff and our community are proud of being part of Lightcliffe Academy.

There has already been lots of work going on this term to make sure students at Lightcliffe make rapid progress and experience a great education.

The curriculum and what our students are learning about has been reviewed so that every student builds on their progress in primary school when they join us in Year 7. We are working closely with our partner primary schools and parents to ensure that we are getting this right and renewing confidence in Lightcliffe Academy. We are making sure that a rich curriculum and high standards of teaching and learning allow all students to be really engaged in their learning, challenges our students and helps them to make great progress as they move up the school.

Student attendance has been and will continue to be a priority and we are starting to see the green shoots of improvement. Clearer systems have been introduced and follow up by staff and tutors is starting to have an impact.

We will have a new senior leadership team in place from September and we have new and stronger governance arrangements. There will be a focus on ensuring the basics – consistently high expectations of students and inspiring teaching and learning are the key priorities as we move forward.

I want to ensure that Lightcliffe is the school of choice in our community. It is important that everyone involved –students and parents, feel valued, supported, developed and listened to. We are at a turning point now and I believe that the Lightcliffe Academy will be something to be proud of and offer the very best education for our students in the future.

Mrs Rosalind Wood-Ives

Head of School

‍