Parental update 16

Dear Parent / Carer,

Parental Update 16

A very frustrating week, with having to close the school on Tuesday owing to a power cut in the local area (I share those frustrations later). On a more positive note, we welcomed back our skiers safely after a great week away, we hosted the Laetare Leadership Group meeting here on site, had a governors’ Finance, Premises and Personnel Committee meeting, welcomed the Year 5 students from our feeder primary schools and today have 3 students going to interview the Lord Mayor.

Looking ahead, next week is quieter with a Year 11 assembly preparing them for their upcoming mock interviews, I am meeting our feeder primary headteachers and we have the Year 10 Parents’ Evening on Thursday.

Whole School Focus – Parental Complaints Guidance

Whenever headteachers meet, one issue regularly gets mentioned – the significant rise in parental complaints, particularly post-COVID and the increasingly aggressive nature of them. As a school, we are fortunate that we don’t get the levels of complaints that some of my colleagues seem to suggest they are receiving, and for the most part, our parents are very reasonable and supportive.

However, it is clearly a national issue and last week, the brilliant charity ParentKind, working with the DfE, produced some really helpful guidance for parents (attached). This aims to support parents to be able to raise issues with the school, but in a manner that is productive and helps them get resolutions to any issues.

The guidance highlights 5 key questions:

What kind of issue is it? Parents may sometimes send in a complaint when it is actually just feedback or a concern that needs an answer – rather than a complaint.
Who should it go to? I have mentioned previously, especially with parents with children from primary schools, that they often assume the headteacher is the person who has to deal with every issue. In reality, the truth is that issues can usually be best resolved by the person closest to their child such as their teacher or form tutor.
How to raise a complaint? This gives some very helpful advice on the best way to raise a complaint. Sometimes a parent can be understandably upset about an issue and communication becomes overly emotional and unreasonable, which isn’t always helpful. The guidance gives some great advice on how to get your concerns across clearly and effectively.
When to expect a response? Often the issue a parent raises is about their child and the most important thing to them and they expect it to be resolved immediately – this is quite understandable. The guidance reminds parents to be aware of the school’s timescales for a response and an understanding that some complex issues will take longer to resolve.
Where to escalate a complaint? On rare occasions, parents may not be happy with how a school has handled a complaint, so it is helpful to know what options you have and where to go if that is the case.

In addition, it also gives advice on How Complaints can go Wrong. Specifically approaches that make matters worse rather than better such as:

- Using Social Media
- Targeting people
- Using AI
- Building a Crowd
- Behaving aggressively
- Lacking partnership

The advice is very good and hopefully parents will find it useful to raise any concerns they have in a constructive and appropriate way.

Power Cut, Closure, Frustration and Attendance

I know many of you will share my deep frustration at the power cut on Tuesday and the need to shut the school. As I mentioned two weeks ago with the previous closure, these are not decisions I take lightly, especially when we are constantly pushing families to ensure good attendance to school.

Any disruption such as this is not only a loss of education that day but also impacts on our attendance for the rest of the week. Wednesday saw our attendance drop to 89%. This is 3% below the 92% we have been hovering around. I don’t mention this because it makes the school’s figures looking bad, but because each % is 12 students – meaning 36 additional young people were missing their lessons and education the next day. Rant over.

Attendance Emails

Please make sure you open and read all emails from ‘Attend’ as these provide important information about attendance.

Year 11 Mock Interviews: Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th February 3.30pm-5.30pm.

If you would like to discuss the mock interviews or have any concerns, please email Nicola.Scully@careerconnect.org.uk A small cohort of students, including those students studying Asdan, will have their mock interview on an alternative date, during the school day.

If your son/daughter has prior commitments or a college course discussion meeting scheduled for 11th or 12th February, please contact Mrs Scully by Monday 2nd February so that their mock interview is not allocated to the same evening.

May we also take this opportunity remind you that some college closing dates for Year 11 applications must be submitted online by 30th January. Please check individual college websites for those colleges that your son/daughter is interested in applying to and ensure applications are submitted on time.

Year 9 Pastoral Change

From next week, Mr Fletcher (Head of Year 9) will be away from school for planned medical treatment. In his absence, Mr Lavin will be taking over pastoral responsibility for Year 9 alongside Mrs Barker. We wish Mr Fletcher a speedy recovery.

Bags

This week we have had to remove some old outdoor lockers that were on their last legs. Unsurprisingly, there were still a number of unclaimed items, including coats etc. Could you check with your child whether they have anything still missing? If so, then ask them to speak to Mrs Shepherd at Student Services.

Bike Registration

Obviously we had to cancel the bike registration plans that were to happen on Tuesday. I am hopeful we will be able to arrange an alternative date in the near future. I will, of course, let you know when that is arranged.

Liverpool Young Ambassadors

Liverpool Council are looking to recruit Young Ambassadors. I have attached the flyer they have shared but key points being:

Being a Young Ambassador means using your own experiences of services to help improve them for other children and young people in Liverpool.
They are looking for passionate young people aged 16 – 25 years, who can confidently contribute to making improved changes in our practice and services.
You’ll join a group of Ambassadors who bring a different lens, voice and perspective. Together, you’ll make sure that young people’s ideas and experiences shape decisions at every level.
You don’t need lots of experience, just your ideas and willingness to making a difference.
They can offer up to 10 flexible hours per month on a sessional basis, £14.02 per hour

Ladies Night Invitation (repeated item)

Calling all the ladies in our school community, you are all invited to celebrate International Women’s Day here at De La Salle with an evening of entertainment, beauty stalls, pop-up shop and a fashion show. The event takes place on Friday 6^th March and tickets are available for £7 including a glass of fizz on entry. Further information and booking details can be found here.

Check out our Socials (repeated item)

We have recently been putting some time into stepping up our social media presence and output for families to access. As well as the many Twitter accounts, we have re-invigorated our Facebook output and Instagram (a big thank you to Mr Metcalf for his work on this):

- Facebook: we are De La Salle School (@DLS_St_Helens)
- Instagram: @DLS_St_Helens
- Twitter: @DLS_St_Helens

Term dates for 2026/27 (repeated)

Autumn Term 2026

INSET Day: Tuesday 1^st September 2026
Wednesday 2^nd: School Opens for students
INSET Day: Fri 23^rd October (Laetare Whole Trust INSET Day)
Half term: School closes for pupils - Thursday 22^nd October
Re-opens - Monday 2^nd November
INSET Day: Friday 4^th December
School closes - Friday 18th December

Spring Term 2027

INSET Day: Monday 4^th January
Students return – Tuesday 5^th January
Half term: School closes for pupils - Friday 12th February
Re-opens - Monday 22^nd February
School closes – Thursday 25^th March

Summer Term 2027

Re-opens - Monday 12th April
Bank Holiday - Monday 3^rd May
School closes - Friday 28^th May
Re-opens - Monday 7^th June
INSET Day: Fri 25^th June
School closes for pupils - Friday 16th July

Reporting Absences (repeated)

A reminder to please report any student absences by using the email: dlsabsence@delasalleschool.org.uk

The absence will then be triaged by our attendance team and may be followed up with a phone call or home visit. Any medical evidence can also be attached to the email.

Attached Information

Alongside this week’s update there is also:

Forthcoming Events (dates in bold indicate a change to normal finish times / EV is Educational Visit)

o Thu 5^th: Year 10 Parents’ Evening
o Mon 9^th – Fri 13^th: Formation Week and Year 8 Retreats
o Wed 11^th: EV Year 9 to Imperial War Museum
o Wed 11^th and Thu 12^th: Year 11 Mock Interviews
o Fri 13^th: finish for half term 3pm

Half term

And finally… Blackout (slightly more serious than usual)

Last Tuesday morning began as usual, with a 5am start for my weekly 5k run (yes, honestly). Despite the storm that was rolling in, I headed down to Crosby beach in the dark, which made the experience rather more eventful than normal as I navigated my way around assorted flotsam and jetsam.

I was in school by 6.30am, had checked overnight emails, completed the daily staff briefing, and by 7.20am had finally sat down with my first coffee and breakfast. Two spoonfuls in, the lights went out. Not just in my office, but everywhere. I won’t lie - it was quite a frightening moment, with no immediate idea of what had happened. In a brief and slightly ridiculous moment of panic, my mind even wandered to whether this was something to do with Donald Trump… or Russia.

Using the torch on my phone, I made my way out of the office, and with the help of the emergency lighting found the caretaker - who was just as puzzled as I was. A quick look outside confirmed the issue was wider, with nearby houses also plunged into darkness.

At that point, surprise gave way to action. We moved swiftly into emergency mode: contacting Scottish Power to confirm power would not be restored before the school day began, making the decision to close, communicating quickly with parents, staff and students, staffing the gates for those students already arriving, giving them some toast in the warm before arranging their safe collection, informing the Trust, Governors and Local Authority, sorting SEND transport, and ensuring the IT team disconnected key infrastructure to avoid any surge damage.

I remained in school for a while, working in the dark with my laptop running off my phone hotspot (a modern-day Clive Sinclair, I like to think). However, with the battery rapidly fading and all meetings now moved online, I reluctantly headed home. As I’ve mentioned before, I really dislike working from home, so spent the rest of the day perched painfully on a kitchen stool, muttering about how extraordinary it was that with all the modern technology of 2026, it felt more like the blackouts of the 1970s. Thankfully, no one else was around to hear my complaints.

Have a good weekend.

Andrew Rannard

Headteacher