Laurelhill Community College

Our Vision and Values

Laurelhill has been serving and providing quality education in this community for over 40 years. The strapline for the College is 'Learning and Achieving Together'. We provide quality learning and teaching opportunities which enable our pupils to reach their full potential. It is our desire that pupils have an educational experience that is both challenging and rewarding which enables them to develop into confident, articulate and caring young people who are ready to take their place in society.

Laurelhill caters for pupils of all abilities and follows the Northern Ireland Curriculum in Key Stage 3. In Key Stage 4 the College offers a broad and balanced range of GCSE and Level 2 equivalent courses. Our Key Stage 5 curriculum enables our pupils to follow academic and/or vocational courses. We want students to be curious, to seek answers, to explore, to expand their horizons and to question the status quo. We are here to learn, we are here to achieve and we maximise learning and achievement when we work together.

The values we have agreed upon are Respect, Enjoyment, Achievement, Care and Honesty. When we enjoy something we are more likely to express ourselves, more willing to give of our best and more willing to go the extra mile. We are a caring community. We see this every single hour in school. We see young people being guided and shown kindness, we see young people reciprocating in deeds of kindness and acts of care. We support one another. No-one should feel alone because we care for one another. We value honesty that includes authenticity, genuineness and integrity. We are a self-reflective community. We must be honest in our dealings with others and true to ourselves. The daily display of our core values is indispensable to the smooth and effective running of the College. These values support learning and teaching and underpin our pastoral care provision.

Principal's Message

We welcome pupils from 11 to 18 of all abilities and from all backgrounds. We are committed to creating a challenging and successful learning experience. Our strapline "learning and achieving together" sums up our focus. We aim to:

provide the very best learning environment for all our pupils

help every pupil achieve their very best

develop the whole person

offer a wide choice of subjects and extra-curricular activities

We are proud of the achievements of our pupils in Public Examinations. Laurelhill is above the Northern Ireland average for Non-selective Schools. The high quality pastoral support provides a framework for success.

I am very proud to be Principal of Laurelhill and as you navigate through the pages of our website I hope you gain insight into the excellence of our school.

J.G. Martin

Teaching Staff

Senior Leadership Team

Mr J Martin Principal

Mr M Dane Vice Principal

Miss G McKibbin Senior Teacher

Mr J Rea Senior Teacher

Ms S Cunningham Senior Teacher

Pastoral Structure

Mr M Dane Vice Principal/Head of Pastoral Care

Ms S Cunningham SENCo

Mrs K Stewart Head of Sixth Form

Mrs J Gillis Head of Senior College

Ms C Flynn Head of Middle College

Mr G Sykes Head of Year 8

Subjects

Art and Design Department

Mrs P Kearney Head of Department

Mrs S Haggerty

Business Studies Department

Mrs J Simpson Head of Department

Mrs J Gillis

Careers Department

Mrs J McWhirter Head of Department

Technology & Design Department

Mr D Gray Head of Department

Mr J Rea

Mr G Sykes

Drama Department

Mrs J Heaney Head of Department

Mrs E Scott

English Department

Miss L J Dyson Head of Department

Mrs S Dougan Literacy Coordinator

Mrs J Heaney

Mr P Hines

Miss D Mitchell

Mrs E Scott

Geography Department

Mr M Kane Head of Department

Mr M Dane

History Department

Mrs F McGinn Head of Department

Miss L Duddy

Health and Social Care Department

Mrs K Beckett Head of Department

Home Economics Department

Mrs D Bernardi

Mrs C Crawford

Mrs D Logue

ICT Department

Mr A Carton Head of Department

Mrs G Armstrong

Mrs K Thompson

Mathematics Department

Mrs A Reid Head of Department

Mrs L Crawford

Mrs J Crothers

Mrs N Han

Miss G McKibbin

Mrs K Thompson

Modern Languages Department

Mrs S Gray Head of Department

Mrs R Miskelly Head of Department

Ms B Debast

Ms C Flynn

Music Department

Miss E Collins Head of Department

Mrs R Rea

Physical Education Department

Mr M Watson Head of Department

Mrs J Crothers

Ms S Cunningham

Mr R Hillis

Religious Education Department

Mrs R Cuthbertson/ Head of Department

Science Department

Mrs R McIlwrath Head of Department

Mr N McKnight

Mrs S J Middleton

Mr M Newnham Numeracy Coordinator

Mrs K Stewart

Board of Governors

As members of the Board of Governors (BoG) we are very proud to be an integral part of the College. The effort of staff, pupils, parents and the wider community have helped to create a safe, stimulating and friendly atmosphere in which our children have the opportunity to achieve and aspire to their very best. We continue to strengthen and develop all links within the College community and look forward to raising our standards still further.

Members of the Board of Governors

Chairperson:

Mr J Craig

Vice-Chairperson:

Dr D Magill LL.B

Transferor Representatives:

Mr M Glover

Rev K Gamble

Mrs A Carruthers

Mr C McCrossan

Parent Representatives:

Mr S Kinghan

Mrs L Joyce

Teacher Representative:

Mrs K Beckett

Key Policies

The following school policies are available from the school upon request:

Acceptable Use of the Internet

Anti-Bullying Policy

Careers Education and Guidance Policy

Charging and Remissions Policy

Child Protection

Critical Incident Response Policy

First Aid Policy

Health Education Policy

Homework Policy

Policy Statement on Drug Education

Promoting Positive Behaviour Policy

RSE Education Policy

Special Educational Needs Policy

Teaching and Learning Policy

Please contact the school if you have any queries

Parent, Teacher and Friends Association

The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) runs events and fundraisers throughout the school year. The Board of Governors of the College greatly appreciates the contribution that the PTA makes to our college community. To find out more about upcoming PTA events check out our college calendar. If you would like to get involved in the work of the PTA or find out more please email info@laurelhill.lisburn.ni.sch.uk

Staff

Kate Beckett (Chair)

Rebecca Miskelly (Secretary)

Mr J Martin (Principal)

Andy Hamill (Building Supervisor)

Parents/Friends

Nicola Prentice

Sharon Patterson

Lillian Kempton

Karen Spence

Laura Joyce

Fiona Monroe

Tahira Rahman

Paula Vance

Margaret Ross

Irene McKittrick

Exam Results

In 2017 Laurelhill results hit a new record breaking high which exceeded the Northern Ireland Average for similar school by almost 6%.

Building on the success of 2016, results improved yet again, with 78% of pupils achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grades C or higher, many achieving an A grade. Also, 52% of pupils achieved 5 or more GCSEs at grades C or higher including Maths and English, again beating the Northern Ireland Average by 5%. Every pupil in year 12 left the school with a GCSE qualification and all were entered for GCSE Mathematics and GCSE English.

Furthermore, results at A-Level exceeded the Northern Ireland average for non-Grammar schools, as a record number of students gained the top grades. An impressive 86% of A-Level students achieved 3 A-Levels, exceeding the Northern Ireland average by over 10%. The number of pupils achieving 3 A*-C grades in A-Level rose again to almost 58% (more than 7% above the Northern Ireland Average._

The key statistics for 2016 and 2017 are noted below. Please contact the school if you would like information on previous public examination results.

2017

2016

Pastoral Care

Overview

Laurelhill Community College has a tradition and history of providing a caring learning environment for all of our pupils. Our pastoral care system places our pupils at the centre of everything we do. Positive relationships are developed between the pupils and the staff who care, support, develop and challenge them to achieve their full potential on a daily basis. Our pupil centred pastoral care system strives to break down the barriers to learning by putting in place programmes and support to develop your child's social and emotional needs.

Pastoral Care Structure

The Pastoral Care structure in Laurelhill is overseen by the Vice Principal for Child Centred Learning. Year 8 pastoral needs are looked after by a team of Form Tutors who report to the Head of Transition. In Middle and Senior College, pupils pastoral needs and academic barriers are addressed by the Form Tutor who is supported by both a Head of College and a Learning Support Co-ordinator. The College has a designated Safeguarding team who respond to all aspects of Child Protection in support of our young people.

Reward Scheme

Encouragement, praise and reward are an essential part of promoting positive behaviour at Laurelhill Community College. To reinforce this we invest in a whole school reward scheme using a pupil passport where good standards of attendance, punctuality, behaviour and academic progress are recognised through assemblies, the Celebration of Success evening and reward trips ranging from swimming at the Lisburn Leisureplex to bowling at Lisburn Bowl.

Counselling Service

Our in house Counselling Service provided by Familyworks is an integral part of the pastoral system within Laurelhill. The levels of trust and relationships built up through having a professional counselling presence in school ensures that our pupils are able to access the support they need in dealing with problems and concerns which impact on their home and school life.

Special Educational Needs

We believe that all children, regardless of their ability, are entitled to experience a broad and balanced curriculum. For this reason the needs of most children at Laurelhill will be met in the normal classroom setting. Our whole-school approach means that all subject teachers are made aware of pupils' individual needs as early as possible in the first term and can employ a range of appropriate learning and teaching strategies to enable them to make progress. We aim to promote a sense of collective responsibility throughout the College for pupils with Special Educational Needs. Consequently, each subject has its own SEN Link teacher who meets with the core SEN Co-ordinator to review the progress of pupils with special needs, contribute to the setting of their targets and to discuss suitable support strategies.

Depending on a pupil's individual needs other provision may be made available such as:

Placement in a smaller class group catering for a maximum of 16 pupils

Additional teaching support

Specialised support from agencies outside the College such as peripatetic support for pupils with Autism

Classroom assistance

Again depending on need, a number of pupils in Year 8 will have the opportunity to benefit from one-to- one reading support, either through the Reading Partnership programme, or from our Sixth Form Reading Mentor Scheme.

Assemblies

The Assembly programme is delivered weekly and is based around a thematic approach to communicate key messages to develop our pupils moral understanding and social awareness. Whole College topics such as road traffic safety, anti-bullying and attendance are examples of these themes. We also promote the College's core values of respect, enjoyment, achievement, care and communication and honesty.

Student Voice

Student Voice is led by the Student Voice Leadership Team (SVLT), which is made up of elected sixth form representatives. The SVLT team lead the Student Council meetings, that are made up of representatives from every class with a total of approximately sixty students on the council.

The student voice representatives meet once per term. During these meetings students will have the opportunity to raise whole school issues to be addressed and then discussed with the Senior Leaders of the college. They will also take on fundraising projects throughout the year, as voted for by the student representatives. The Aims and Objectives of Student Voice are:

To establish an effective pupil voice within the college across all year groups that will be engaging, fun and energetic for the pupils involved.

To grow the community feel, level of fun and enjoyment and a sense of belonging and ownership for our pupils in Laurelhill.

To see two members of each form class elected as representatives on student voice (one male and one female)

The students will continue to play an active role in shaping the future of the Laurelhill Community College.

Student Mentoring

At Laurelhill Community College we have a mentoring programme which aims to identify students who are not fulfilling their potential. Pupils are supported by Senior teaching staff to overcome their individual barriers to learning.

Transition Programme

The School's transition programme is run in conjunction with our Youth Service and helps our young people make the change from Primary education to Secondary. The programme allows the pupils to develop sound peer relations even before they have started the College in September and includes team building and personal development elements. The Youth Service continues to support the work of the College through a range of tailored programmes at both individual and group level.