Welcome
Welcome to Sir John Lawes School.
We look forward to meeting you and we know that you will have a really happy time here.
At SJL you will have the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of subjects and activities. Sports, music, dance, art, drama, movie making, robotics and astronomy are some of the opportunities and experiences that are waiting for you at SJL.
Joining us from primary school
We will have a decitated section of our website ready for you to help you with leaving your primary school and moving to the new, much bigger world of secondary education. Our aim is to make all our new students feel welcome and safe so that you hit the ground running at the start of Year 7 and make a great start to what will hopefully be some of the best years of your life.
Joining us from other years
Moving schools can be worrying and stressful. Our aim is to make all our new students feel welcome and safe and to settle you in your new Form Group with a new timetable as quickly as we can. Before joining us you will be given the opportunity to visit the school with your parents/carers and meet your new head of year or another key member of the pastoral team. This will be an opportunity to ask questions and find out about life at Sir John Lawes School.
We hope you find the sections below and our Transition pages useful, and if you are joining us then we look forward to seeing soon.
A typical day at SJL
Every school day you will meet your form tutor in the morning and at afternoon registration. You have six lessons of 50 minutes each in a wide range of subjects including English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, RE, ICT, PE, Music, Art and lots, lots more.
During break and lunchtime you can visit the school canteen for a hot or cold snack/meal and a drink. Lunchtimes can be very busy times with lots of clubs to join. It is also a good time to visit the library or to catch up with your new and existing friends.
At lunchtime students can do one of the following:
a) Stay at school and have a school meal
b) Stay at school and have a packed lunch in the school canteen or sandwich areas.
We encourage as many students as possible to buy a school lunch as the food is good, nutritional and the kitchen staff are excellent. We operate a cafeteria system. Items are priced individually or as 'meal deals' and may be purchased as in any other cafeteria.
Students in Years 7-11 are not allowed to leave the school site at lunchtime.
Homework club is held after school in the library where staff can help you with your homework. There are also lots of sporting activities for those of you who like sports and want to play in the school teams.
You will never be bored at SJL!
Clubs and activities
School isn’t just about hard work. It is about meeting new people, making friends and taking part in the activities that you enjoy the most.
When you arrive at Sir John Lawes you will find that there are loads of lunchtime or after-school activities and clubs that you can join.
Sporting teams and clubs include: football, rugby, basketball, hockey, netball, cross-country, athletics, cricket, rounders, tennis and gymnastics.
If you are musical, you can audition for the school Concert Band, the Up and Coming Band and the Jazz Band. You can play in the Brass Band, Guitar Group, Strings Group as well as the Rock School. You can also join in with the Junior choir or sing in the Gospel or Soul Groups.
If you enjoy acting you can join in with Drama activities and also audition for the junior school play.
The Science faculty has clubs in gardening, robotics and astronomy as well as the Young Engineer Scheme.
You could also join the Debating Society, Junior Reading Group, the Formula 1 Maths Club or enjoy Design and Technology sessions.
There really is something for everyone.
On top of all these activities you will enjoy a week long residential in the first term. You may also secure a place on the annual European Music trip or the skiing to Switzerland.
If there is nothing here that excites you then a member of the Sixth Form is available to help you start your own club!
Rewards
Rewards & consequences
At SJL we like to take every opportunity to celebrate students’ good performance. As well as positive feedback to individual students, displays of student work and celebrations in assembly we have a variety of ways that we recognise your hard work or achievement. If you want to find out more about this then visit the section of this site that talks about rewards.
Tips to help you succeed
SJL is a really fun place to be and there are many different ways that you can succeed.
Here are just a few suggestions:
- Take a full and active role in all aspects of school life.
- Listen and work hard in lessons.
- Join lunchtime or after-school activities.
- Do your homework to your full ability and hand it in on time.
- Make sure you arrive at school on time and reach a minimum of 92% attendance each year.
- Challenge yourself each school year to learn a new hobby or get involved in a community project.
When we challenge ourselves to do things that we find difficult or scary it helps us to grow in confidence and to grow as a person.
At SJL there are lots of fun ways that you can challenge yourself:
Year 7: When you are at the residential you can challenge yourself to jump from the Leap of Faith (safely harnessed of course).
Year 8: You can challenge yourself to join a school team or take part in a whole school activity such as a school production.
Year 9: You can challenge yourself to raise funds for a charity or a project that you have researched and/or helped.
Year 10: You can challenge yourself to learn a new skill.
Year 11: You can challenge yourself to exceed a predicted grade by two grades in one or more of your GCSE subjects.
Life at Sir John Lawes will allow you to not only reach your full potential but to aim even higher than that and you will have a great time doing it.
Who to contact if you have a problem
If you have a problem and you are not sure how to solve it then the best person to see in the first instance is your form tutor as they are the people that will know you best of all.
Your Head of Year or Student Services Manager are also available to answer your queries or listen to your concerns.
