Take a minute to watch Mr Linz's annual Christmas message where he not only spreads the message of kindness, but also signposts avenues of support for mental health and wellbeing during the festive period.

The short video was shown to all the students during tutor time this week.

You can view the video here: Mr Linz's Christmas Message - LHS YouTube

Staff will not be checking their emails after 1pm on Friday 20 December until we return on Monday 6 January so please do not expect any response from staff over the Christmas holiday. The “office” email at Reception and the "smile@littleheath.org.uk" email will also not be monitored for the duration of the Christmas break.

As we have done over previous holidays, we wanted one point of call for emergency contact or safeguarding matters that you feel you need to pass on during the Christmas break. Please note that this email is for emergency or Safeguarding matters ONLY and should not be used for “routine queries”.

This email is: concerns@littleheath.org.uk

This inbox will be monitored on the following days over the Christmas holiday:

• Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 December until 3pm
• Monday 30 and Tuesday 31 December until 3pm
• Thursday 2 January and Friday 3 January until 3pm

Please note that the "concerns" email will not be monitored over weekends or over the Christmas period or on the New Year Bank Holiday. From Monday 6 January 2025 onwards, please contact school in the normal way.

Download information on the top ten tips for safety here: 
Top 10 tips for safety over the festive period

December's festivities always begin with the wonderful Carol Concert at Tilehurst Methodist Church.

The student musicians and singers did not disappoint. Along with members of the student Christian Union group, they put together a fabulous programme which put us all in the mood for Christmas!

A huge thank you to our fantastic Music Department and staff supporting the Christian Union for all of their hard work. We would also like to once again say thank you to everyone at Tilehurst Methodist Church for welcoming us for another year.

Thanks also go to everyone who came along and to those who contributed towards our collection for Daisy's Dream.

We were delighted to welcome our former Year 11 and Year 13 students and their families to Prize Giving Evening this week.

The selected students from both year groups were invited to celebrate their success at winning some of our school's most prestigious prizes for achievement, attainment and attitude to learning, as well as a handful of very special awards including:

• The Endeavour Award - in recognition of tremendous resilience, perseverance and determination
• School Service Award - in recognition of exceptional contribution, dedication and service to the school community
• The Inclusion Award - nominated by the Inclusion Team for the student who has pushed themselves to achieve, building upon their success, despite the challenges they face

It was a wonderful way to celebrate their achievements and award their contributions to Little Heath School. We are so proud of you all and wish you the very best for the future.

A huge thank you also goes to our Chair of Governors, Anton Lawrence, for his time in coming to give this year's speech.

We served almost 500 Christmas lunches with ALL the trimmings to staff and students this year! It was a fabulously festive afternoon with Christmas music and crackers causing lots of fun. The students were served by our Sixth Form Prefects, Student Senior Leadership Team and school staff. A huge thanks go to the hard working catering team at Culinera, it was a massive effort to get so many hot lunches out over two sittings, and making them so delicious too!

Williams F1, invited students in Year 8, and some of our older Computer Science students, to visit their site in Oxfordshire. They delivered an engaging, hands on STEM based workshop where students working in unfamiliar teams were challenged to design and build a “Crash Nose Cone” which they then tested. 

Students also had to deliver a presentation to the room, in their teams, about their process. They then had a guided tour of the incredible heritage museum and, finally, everyone had the opportunity to go on the eSports simulators.  This was such a fantastic opportunity for students interested in STEM to gain a unique insight into this sector and to ask questions directly to a number of facilitators, that we took over 260 students across a number of days!

Year 8 students took part in a workshop called “Guess My Job”, a fun and informal way to learn about a wide variety of job roles. While rotating from one mystery employer to another, students learnt about what their roles entailed, the day to day tasks involved, and the opportunities and entry routes to their professions.

Our Year 7 students will be taking part in three exciting careers events in the summer term. We are looking forward to meeting and working with you all!

We kicked off the new school year with an exciting and engaging trip for all of our Year 11 students to a Careers & Higher Education Fair in Newbury.  Students were encouraged to talk with a variety of employers, apprentices, training providers, colleges and universities about potential pathways after leaving school.  This was a fantastic opportunity for students to start thinking about their exciting futures and hopefully provided inspiration and encouragement to work hard in this final year of KS4.

All of our Year 10 students listened to very passionate speakers from Ken Neal Associates and Mend the Gap on the relevant and topical area of “Green Careers” – a fast evolving employment pathway.  We have planned a series of careers events this year across a variety of year groups; to raise awareness and interest in this sector and hopefully to motivate and encourage some students to get actively involved in protecting and nurturing our environment. 

During Creative Arts week, our Year 9 Drama students were treated to interactive, live workshops in Directing and Theatre Design, delivered by the Watermill and Corn Exchange Theatres. The mood boards which they produced as part of the Theatre Design workshop were commented upon by the facilitator as being ”exceptional”!

This term would not be complete without our annual Year 9 trip to the Natural History Museum in Oxford, to hear from current undergraduates.  The Xmas based Science Lectures this year were entitled “The Birth of a Planet“ and “Mistletoe: Not just for Christmas!” Students listened and asked questions, explored the museum, took part in a treasure hunt and visited the Christmas market on the way home.

September began for our Sixth Form students with university admission tutors and HR professionals checking personal statements and CVs, to ensure that our students make the best possible, and most competitive applications that they can.  We took a trip to the Guardian Media Newspaper headquarters in London for our English students. They took part in a workshop on Opinion Writing and created a newspaper front page to take away – it was an immersive and engaging experience which everyone enjoyed immensely!

All our Year 12 students took part in a Financial Awareness workshop called “The Cost of Living.” They were guided through a workbook where they estimated their potential salary and various outgoings - they very soon discovered that the reality of paying bills might mean changes to their expected lifestyle!

Well done to everyone who took part in a sports match this month. Here are the results:

• U12's Boys Football, Little Heath 0 - 1 Highdown, (3/12)

• U12's Boys Football, Little Heath 0 - 0 Maiden Erlegh Reading, (3/12) 

• U12's Boys Football, Little Heath 0 - 0 Maiden Erlegh Wokingham, (3/12)

• U12's Boys Football, Little Heath 4 - 0 Prospect, (3/12)

• U12's Boys Football, Little Heath 0 - 1 Bohunt, (3/12)

• U12's Girls Football, Little Heath 0 - 2 The Wren, (4/12)

• U12's Girls Football, Little Heath 2 - 0 Highdown, (4/12)

• U16's Boys National Cup Basketball, Little Heath 68 - 75 Cheney, (5/12)

• U14's Boys Basketball, Little Heath 62 - 27 Blessed Hugh Faringdon, (5/12)

• U14's Boys County Cup Football, Little Heath 4 - 5 Cheney, (9/12) 

• U16's 5 aside Boys Football, Little Heath 0 - 1  Highdown, (10/12)

• U16's 5 aside Boys Football, Little Heath  1 - 0 Maiden Erlegh, (10/12)

• U16's 5 aside Boys Football, Little Heath 0 - 2 Theale Green (10/12)

• U12's Girls Football, Little Heath 0 - 0 Maiden Erlegh Reading (11/12)

• U12's Girls Football, Little Heath 0 - 3 Maiden Erlegh Wokingham (11/12)

• U12's Girls Football, Little Heath 0 - 0 Oakbank (11/12)

• U16's Boys Basketball National Cup, Little Heath 60 - 36 John Madejski Academy, (17/12)

View the HAF provision information leaflet here: 

HAF Christmas Holiday Provision