The Lady Byron School

🌊 WATER SAFETY MATTERS 🌊

As warmer weather brings more people to rivers, lakes, reservoirs and the coast, please remember:

⚠️ Cold water can be dangerous – even on hot days
Water temperatures remain low and can trigger cold water shock, causing gasping, panic and difficulty swimming.

✅ Choose lifeguarded locations whenever possible
Supervised venues are the safest places to enjoy the water.

✅ Never swim alone
Always stay with friends or family and look out for each other.

❌ Avoid jumping into unknown water
Hidden hazards, changing depths and underwater objects can cause serious injury.

✅ Know the Water Safety Code

Stop and think
Stay together
Float if you fall in
Call 999 in an emergency
If you get into trouble:

🟦 FLOAT TO LIVE

Tilt your head back
Relax and control your breathing
Move your hands and legs gently to stay afloat
If someone else is in trouble:

📞 Phone – Float – Throw
Call 999, encourage them to float, and throw something that floats. Never enter the water to attempt a rescue yourself.

📢 **School Update**

We are pleased to confirm that our internet connection has now been restored.

However, services are currently running much more slowly than normal while systems catch up and we continue to monitor performance.

📞 Phone lines are fully operational.

📧 Emails are being received and responded to, but there may still be some delays while we work through messages and manage the slower connection speeds.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We will continue to keep you updated if there are any further changes.

School Update

Thank you for your patience while we continue to deal with our internet outage.

Our phone lines are now working again, so you can contact the school in the usual way by telephone.

However, we are still experiencing issues with our internet connection, which unfortunately could take a few days. To ensure enquiries continue to be managed, office staff are taking turns to work from home and will be monitoring emails where possible. Please be aware that responses may take longer than usual, but we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support while we work to restore full service.

Important Notice

We are currently experiencing an internet outage at school, which means our phone lines and email systems are unavailable at this time.

Our team is working with the provider to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and we will provide updates as soon as service is restored.

If you need to contact the school urgently, please use the school mobile phone.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

🌻A Wonderful Few Weeks of Learning Before Half Term for Saturn! 🌻

Welcome back to the final half term of the academic year... where has the time gone?! We hope everyone had a wonderful break and is ready for an exciting few weeks ahead.

🌱 Gardening
Before the half term, the students planted sunflowers and took them home to continue looking after them during the break. We can't wait to see how much they have grown now that everyone has returned! The students also planted beautiful flowers around the school garden, helping to brighten the outdoor space and make it look absolutely lovely. Their care and enthusiasm really shone through.

🎨 Art
In Art, the students enjoyed spending time outdoors in the sunshine while exploring texture rubbing using leaves collected from the garden. They experimented with different shapes and patterns found in nature and created some fantastic pieces of artwork inspired by the world around them.

📚 English
Our focus in English was writing Tea Reports inspired by the book Cloud Tea Monkeys. The students learnt lots of interesting facts about tea, including where it comes from and how it is produced. They worked hard to write their own reports and proudly designed creative front covers to present their work beautifully — they all look amazing!

Well done to everyone for another fantastic time of creativity, teamwork and enthusiasm. We are looking forward to making lots more memories together during this final half term! 🌞✨

✨ What a fantastic half term it has been across our school! ✨

From outdoor adventures to creative projects and exam success, our pupils have embraced every opportunity to learn, grow and shine 🌟

🌿 Forest School highlights included making dandelion honey 🍯, building fires safely, relaxing in hammocks, and exploring nature through teamwork and creativity.

🎨 Creativity flourished across the school:
• Saturn Class designed imaginative ideas for the school garden 🌼
• Jupiter and Saturn collaborated on artwork inspired by our school values 💖
• Orion Class created their own Tic Tac Toe designs while developing independent thinking skills.
• Students celebrated World Earth Day through creative activities 🌍

📚 Pupils have shown fantastic effort in the classroom:
• Mercury Class completed their Functional Skills assessments with excellent results 👏
• Jupiter Class impressed during GL assessments and began their new Maths topic on area and perimeter 🔢
• Orion Class explored narrative writing and real-life Science through energy calculations ⚡
• Saturn Class showed maturity and respect during thoughtful Citizenship discussions.

🎓 Cygnus students have demonstrated outstanding resilience and determination throughout GCSE exam season. With live revision sessions, structured support, and wellbeing activities, students have approached exams with focus and maturity 💙

🧘 Student wellbeing has remained a key priority across the school, with mindfulness opportunities, creative activities, calm spaces, and trusted staff support helping pupils feel confident and supported.

🍦 A special well done to Oak House for earning the highest number of tokens and securing a well deserved ice cream trip! 👏

We are incredibly proud of all our pupils for their confidence, creativity, resilience, and achievements this half term. Wishing everyone a restful and enjoyable break ☀️

📚✨ GCSE Exam Season

✨📚 Our students are now fully underway with their GCSE examinations, and we are incredibly proud of the focus, determination and maturity they are showing during this important period.

👏🎓 To support students throughout exam season, we are continuing to offer 💻 live revision sessions via Microsoft Teams. These sessions provide opportunities to revisit key content, ask questions and receive guidance as students move from one exam to the next.

🏫 In school, students are also receiving ongoing preparation and support, including:
✅ Structured revision opportunities
✅ Exam technique reminders
✅ Subject specific guidance
✅ Encouragement from staff every step of the way
The resilience and commitment our students are demonstrating is fantastic, and we are confident they can continue to approach each exam with calmness and readiness.

🌟 💙 Student wellbeing remains one of our key priorities during this period. Sitting exams can be demanding both mentally and emotionally, so we are ensuring students feel supported, grounded and encouraged throughout. Outside of scheduled exams, students will have access to a range of wellbeing activities designed to help them regulate, reset and manage stress, including:
🧘 Mindfulness opportunities
🎨 Creative and sensory activities
🌿 Calm spaces for reflection
🤝 Time with trusted staff

We want every student to remember that their wellbeing matters just as much as their performance.

💫 🍦 As an additional wellbeing boost, students in Oak have earned an ice cream trip on 14.05.26 for achieving the highest number of tokens! Some of our Year 11 students are part of this group and are very excited for their well deserved treat.

Well done, Oak! 👏

Online Grooming 🚨📱

In partnership with National College, this week’s guide highlights the growing threat of online grooming and the tactics offenders use to manipulate young people online.

From fake identities and flattery to gifts, gaming chats and social media groups, groomers carefully build trust before exploiting it. The guide also explores the rise of sextortion and how seemingly harmless online spaces can become gateways for harm.

Importantly, grooming isn’t limited to sexual exploitation. This edition also raises awareness of criminal grooming and radicalisation, helping trusted adults recognise that manipulation can take many forms.

With practical advice on spotting warning signs, encouraging open conversations and understanding the platforms children use every day, this resource supports parents and educators to intervene early and help keep children safe online.

At Lady Byron School, we are incredibly proud of our pupils and always want to celebrate their achievements, experiences and successes with our wider community.

Following updated safeguarding guidance from the UK Safer Internet Centre, we have taken the decision to remove photographs of pupils from our social media platforms and online channels.

The guidance was issued following confirmed incidents in the UK where publicly available school photographs were manipulated using artificial intelligence tools to create harmful and illegal content, with schools subsequently subjected to blackmail threats. Safeguarding organisations, including the Internet Watch Foundation and the National Crime Agency, are now advising schools to review the use of identifiable pupil images online.

As part of this process, some previous social media posts may have been removed entirely where photographs could not be separated from the original content.

The safety and wellbeing of every child in our care will always remain our highest priority. We will continue to share and celebrate the fantastic work taking place across our school community, but in ways that minimise unnecessary safeguarding risks.

Further information can be found via the UK Safer Internet Centre guidance:

Schools given advice on image safety to keep ahead of threat from AI blackmailers - UK Safer Internet Centre Schools have been briefed with vital information to safeguard pupils online in response to an emerging AI threat from blackmailers. The essential guidance lays down the risks of sharing images and videos of pupils on websites and social media platforms, giving key advice for managing children’s im...

✨ Cygnus Class Update ✨

This Summer Term, it has been wonderful to see Cygnus return with such enthusiasm, positivity, and readiness to learn! ☀️📚 The class have continued to work hard across all subjects, showing creativity, focus, and growing confidence in their learning.

Here’s a look at what Cygnus have been doing recently:

🎨 Art
Students have been designing and creating their own versions of Tic Tac Toe. They explored creative ideas, patterns, and layouts while developing their artistic skills and independent thinking.

✍️ English
In English, pupils have been learning how to structure a short narrative. They have focused on organising ideas clearly, developing characters and settings, and building confidence in their creative writing.

⚡ Science
Students have been learning how to calculate energy charges, developing their understanding of energy use and applying mathematical skills to real-life situations. They have worked hard to improve both their scientific knowledge and problem-solving skills.

👏 Well done, Cygnus — a fantastic week with lots of excellent learning taking place!