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Proudly sponsored by

Highgate Tottenham Hotspur
The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2021 - Sixth Form College of the Year

Chrysalis East


A generous donation from investment firm Rokos Capital Management has led to the development of LAE Tottenham's new outreach programme, Chrysalis East.

Our programme is based on a model developed by our sponsor school, Highgate. Their programme, Chrysalis, partners with around 40 schools on a huge number of different projects, whilst Chrysalis East is tailored to give unrivalled levels of support to four local secondary feeder schools in East Haringey and their feeder primaries:

  • Duke’s Aldridge Academy
  • Gladesmore Community School
  • Park View School
  • Woodside High School 

what do we do:

Chrysalis East seeks to help young people in Tottenham make informed choices about their future and flourish educationally. We want to support more young people in getting the grades to come to LAET and make sure our sixth form is accessible to ALL young people locally.

Every week Chrysalis East offers extra enrichment classes, small subject tutorials, and career-oriented trips to achieve this. These activities are planned and delivered by our dedicated Chrysalis East Team, often in conjunction with teachers and staff members in school (time allowing). Here is a small sample of the projects running as part of the programme:

  • Year 7, 8 and 9 Annual Summer Schools
  • Further Maths GCSE Classes
  • After-School Primary Science Clubs for Years 4, 5 and 6
  • Year 9 Science Stretch Classes
  • Trips to Employers
  • Year 5 Coding Sessions
  • Science Enrichment Days
Our sessions also involve interaction with LAET student mentors.

get involved:

Teachers

If you are a teacher in a Tottenham school and would like to explore working with Chrysalis East, please get in touch with chrysaliseast@laetottenham.ac.uk

We want our programmes to:

  • Raise student attainment, with a particular focus on increasing the number of 7–9 grades in English, Maths and Science.
  • Increase students' sense of belonging in academic settings.
  • Encourage more informed decision-making on post-16 and post-18 options.
  • Widen who is considered the 'top third', i.e. building confidence, so more pupils consider themselves to have academic potential.
  • Decrease transitional shock through education, e.g. Primary to Secondary and KS3 to 4.
  • Establish great relationships between LAET and staff in schools.
  • Provide career support and inspiration at an early stage.
  • Diversify subject choices: especially Geography, Languages, Art & Drama .
  • Create a community of practice amongst staff across Tottenham to explore and share ideas for raising achievement.
  • Equip families to support their children. 
Parents/Carers 

Lots of our programmes are teacher-nominated, but we have some opportunities where we take nominations from parents/carers. If you are a parent or carer of a child in a Tottenham secondary school and would like to know more, please email chrysaliseast@laetottenham.ac.uk

Here are a few exciting projects that parents/carers can sign their children up for:

  • Year 7, 8 and 9 Annual Summer Schools
  • Year 11 Futures Mornings for information, advice and guidance on Future Pathways (January/February of each year - all Year 11 applicants get invited)
  • Mini Open Evening for Year 10 and primary school families to come and see LAET's amazing facilities (Eventbrite tickets here)
  • University Trips and Visits
  • Where we have spaces on our academic programme

OUR IMPACT:

We run subject and career activities every week. We are developing a way to evaluate the cumulative impact of so many activities, but in the meantime, here are a few indicators:

  • In our first two years, we have put on over 300 academic and career activities.
  • A year after we launched, applications to LAET from feeder schools were up 70%.
  • More students are taking separate science GCSEs. 
  • 10 students are taking Further Maths GCSE who wouldn't have had the opportunity otherwise. 
  • After attending our Futures Mornings, between 68-70% of the Year 11 attendees changed their minds about their future plans, recognising that picking the right subject is so important to future achievement.

"It's done so well in incentivising her that she has become a really engaged and interested student in sixth form and A-levels as well as beyond university ... which will be the first time in our family." - Parent comment

"The LAET Summer School went down really well - T had a great time there. I did the tour and I was incredibly impressed by the place: the students, atmosphere, facilities, and by how much they're really focused on preparing the students for university." - Parent comment

"Just wanted to say thank you so much for this afternoon! It was just brilliant. I know the pupils got so much out of it and I definitely did. I made a ton of notes and it was so hard not to put my hand up to answer questions. I love what you do when you say 'get talking' and just walk away - it's so effective, and they just respond to it. Definitely going to start doing that. They were really inspired and with their speaking and listening assessment next week they've got some wonderful ideas. Can't wait for next week!"  - Teacher, Woodside High School

"Going there is just thrilling!" "You get that feeling every week like you've been on a school trip." - Student comment

THESE GUIDING PRINCIPLES ARE AT THE HEART OF OUR WORK:

  • We view access to higher education as one of the ways to address social inequality.
  • We seek to identify, and overcome, the barriers that prevent young people in Tottenham from progressing to the most prestigious universities and professions.
  • We will work with our wider school community to advocate positive destinations for all young people in Tottenham.
  • We foster a sense of belonging and making the invisible rules visible are requisite aspects of a successful transition. 
  • Sustainability is our starting point; we want to build capacity in the community and create a legacy which endures beyond the length of the programme. 
  • Black Lives Matter.

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT US:

"You are doing an awesome job for our community - many more Tottenham young people will be successful because of their experience at LAET." - Headteacher

RESOURCES FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS:

 

CONTACT US 

If you would like to make an enquiry, please email the Chrysalis East team directly using the email address provided: chrysaliseast@laetottenham.ac.uk