Update

Monday 5 June 2023

Updates

Please see below details of the changes to the school day and timetable from September 2023. This update contains a lot of information so please do read it carefully and if you have any queries or questions, please send an email to the stamfordcoed@ses.lincs.sch.uk email in the first instance and we will respond to all emails as quickly as possible.

Timetable and the School Day:

From September 2023 the school day will be extended at the Senior School and Sixth Form. The Junior School day remains unchanged.

School Day Timings Senior School: Year 7 – 11 from September 2023

Start of day

Lessons Finish

Monday

8.30am

4.20pm

Tuesday

8.30am

4.20pm

Wednesday

8.30am

4.20pm

Thursday

8.30am

4.20pm

Friday

8.30am

3.40pm

Sixth Form – Year 12 and 13

School Day Timings for Sixth Form: Year 12 and Year 13

Start of day

Lessons Finish

Monday

8.30am

4.20pm

Tuesday

8.30am

4.20pm

Wednesday

8.30am

4.20pm

Thursday

8.30am

4.20pm

Friday

8.30am

4pm

Q: Why have we made these changes?

A: First and foremost these changes allows us to optimise the lesson length time so that we can choose whether to teach in 40 or 80 minute blocks in the Senior School. This gives subjects the flexibility of choice in lesson delivery. It makes pedagogical sense in how students learn and gives an additional 85 minutes per week, allowing for more curriculum time for academic subjects as well as increased pastoral time. We know that students’ brains work in different ways, so it gives us flexibility to offer shorter lessons in subjects like languages, where little and often is considered better for learning. In more practical subjects like Science, PE, DT, Art and Drama we can offer 80 minute sessions which allows more time to undertake a piece of work or an activity. This gives our students a varied diet of academic learning and allows the timetable to be tailored to each subject, which will optimise the students’ learning.

We have also made these changes so the student experience is more consistent and equitable. Students won’t lose time moving around our large campus for swimming or, for example, to access sport facilities. They will stay in the same place as much as they can – notwithstanding certain subjects where facilities are at a different location and cannot be moved – kitchens for food and nutrition for example. The changes instead allow for staff to move between sites rather than students. There will still be some movement around the sites in the higher year groups, where option choices dictate learning space. Our overall aim is to ensure Years 7 – 11 learn on one campus from September 2024 as part of our full move to co-educational learning. For the academic year of 2023-2024, Year 11 students will remain on their current home sites and their timetables have been planned to accommodate for this.

For Sixth Form, the school will be open from 8.00am, but students aren’t expected to be in school at that time every day, and formal lessons will not begin until 9.10am. The timetable for Years 12 and 13 will now be more flexible to allow for year group tutor time which will include assemblies, chapel, house activities, and whole tutorial time.

Students will be encouraged to use this time for private study, meeting with their tutor, meeting with friends and learning to manage their own time. This flexibility is designed to move to one to one tutorials during the week, which are arranged with tutors and students, as we support our students in preparation for university/adult life.

The changes across the timetable will enable us to optimise lesson length in Sixth Form of both 60 and 80 minute lessons. This will increase the curriculum time in Sixth Form from 630 minutes to 660 minutes per subject, per fortnight. Over the course of their A Levels, this is equal to an additional 17 hours contact time per subject or three weeks of teaching.

In Sixth Form every Tuesday afternoon will be dedicated to sport, as it is now, and Thursday afternoons for PHSE and a new offering of enrichment classes which will include taught short courses, life skill sessions, money management skills etc. More details will follow on this in September.

In Summary:

  • We currently finish at 3.55pm, the school day will now end at 4.20pm on Monday to Thursday, and Friday at 3.40pm for the Senior School and 4pm for the Sixth Form.
  • The changes also allow us to stagger lunchtimes into Year Groups at the Senior School: Years 7 and 8 together and Years 9, 10 and 11 together.
  • We will continue to offer our excellent co-curricular programme for students. A later finish for the school day doesn’t affect the co-curricular programme and end times will be the same, between 5.15pm – 5.45pm. We are aiming to stagger these to ensure the easiest pick up routines are established.
  • To acknowledge the increase in workload that a longer school day will demand of our students and academic staff, we have reflected this in the total number of teaching days in each academic year from September 23-24. New term dates are attached to this email for clarification.

Questions:

We understand that parents may have some questions in light of these changes; we hope that we are able to answer these below. However, do not hesitate to send any further questions to the Stamford Co-Ed email stamfordcoed@ses.lincs.sch.uk

Q: Will the end of co-curricular clubs be the same?

A: Yes – the timings won’t need to change due to the children being in the correct locations at the end of the school day, so clubs are able to start more quickly and therefore clubs will finish at the same time, between 5.15pm – 5.45pm. We are aiming to stagger these to ensure the easiest pick up routines are established.

Q: What effect will the change in timetable have on school transport?

A: A new timetable will be ready before the end of the summer term from the Schools’ transport team, but all buses will run as they do now with a slightly later pick up time.

Q: Will the School run buses still collect from St Paul’s and St Martin’s? How will this affect SJS students?

A: Yes, all pick up locations on school provided transport will be the same. We have a small number of SJS children who travel on school buses, mainly those with older siblings, and they will be escorted to the St Martin’s Campus to collect their buses as they do now.

Q: How will groups for tutor/form time work vs other lessons?

A: Tutor groups from September 2023 will be set in Houses. This will enable tutors to offer strong pastoral care and dedicated time each day for each student. Setting tutor groups by house will enable each student the opportunity to add breadth in their friendship groups, as well as building a strong house community. Academic lessons will not be set in tutor groups, but in the same way as they are now - either in consistent groups for lessons in the lower years, then in ability or option choices as they move through key stages.

Q; How will lunchtimes work?

A: Lunchtimes will be staggered by year groups (7 and 8 together and 9, 10 and 11 together). The changes to the timetable will allow lunchtime to be spread out over a longer period of time. Please rest assured that students will still have lunches by year groups as they do now and not in house groups.

Q: Will students joining the Schools in September 2023 be in the same house as their siblings?

A: Yes, this will remain the same as it is now.

Parking

From September 2023 there will be a number of new parking restrictions and designated areas for parents to drop off and pick up across the Stamford campuses. The most notable changes will be the addition of barriers and cameras with ANPR. There are limited car parking facilities within the school grounds, with several designated parking spaces for residential staff, visitors and disabled drivers. All drivers using the car parks are asked to respect these designated spaces. Car parks are specifically for staff and visitors only, all students are prohibited from parking within the schools car parks.

Parents are asked to be mindful of the limited parking and “Drop Off / Pick Up” spaces available within the school site and be mindful and courteous to pedestrians, other drivers and other site users at all times. With this in mind we ask and expect parents / carers to:

  • Only use the designated “Drop Off / Pick Up” spaces
  • Enter and exit the “Drop off / Pick Up” spaces in a safe and timely manner, to facilitate the free flow of vehicles and the safety of other site users.
  • Cars need to keep flowing through “Drop Off / Pick Up areas to prevent congestion
  • Cars should stay no longer than needed to Drop Off/Pick Up children, and no longer than the 20 minute permitted period.
  • Please also note that parking over the summer will be very limited due to site works.

LMS car park

The LMS car park will be a drop off and pick up car park only, between the hours of 08.00-09.00 and 16.00-17.30. Between 09.00-16:00 the car park will be closed and used as an additional playground space for the students. No parking will be available on this site for staff or parents. After 17.30 the car park will revert to a general car park for lettings and events.

RLC car park

The RLC car park is for staff only during the school day, but available to parents for pick up at the end of the day only. The car park will be controlled by a parking barrier throughout the day until 16.00. After 16.00 the car park will become available to parents for pick up and general parking for lettings and events.

Brazenose car park

The Brazenose car park is for staff only parking, there is no parent drop off or pick up facilities. There are five visitors parking bays for contractors and visitors. The car park will be controlled by a parking barrier at all times. After 17.00 the car park reverts to a general parking for lettings and events.

Southfields car park

The Southfields car park is for staff parking only. There are two bays reserved for visitors to the school.

Sports Centre car park

The Sports Centre car park is for staff only during the school day. The car park is controlled by a parking barrier throughout the day to 16.00. After 16.00 the car park becomes available for lettings and events.

St Martin’s Campus

There are no dedicated car parks at the St Martin’s campus. The car parks located at Welland House are specifically for residential boarding staff and not for school staff or parents. There is street parking along Park Lane. When parking along Park Lane, vehicles should be parked in a courteous manner - not on pavements - and respecting the schools’ neighbours at all times. Students are strictly prohibited from parking along Park Lane. There is no parking along High Street St Martin’s for staff or parents.

Cattle Market car park

The Cattle Market car park provides drop off and pick up parking for parents, but also staff parking during the day. The car park will be resurfaced and relined over the summer holidays and will be controlled by a parking barrier thereafter throughout the day, between 09.00 and 15.45. There is not a pedestrian route to the Cattle Market car park from outside of the school.

Additional spaces are available on a pay and display basis within the adjacent public car park. Further updates on the Cattle Market car park will be communicated later this week. No other changes will be made to the SJS parking arrangements.

We hope all of this information is useful and informative. We have tried to incorporate as much information as possible into this update and we appreciate that there is a lot to take in.