Recent Changes
Many contentious changes have been made in the past academic year, including a new timetable and tutoring system. These have seen considerable debate outside of official forums, by staff and students alike. This system is being introduced in other schools around the country. Its common name is Vertical tutoring, because forms now consist of students from every year. In Lawrence Sheriff, forms are also organised so that only pupils from one house are in a form. Since the start of 2007, much more emphasis has been put on house competition by the senior staff, with forms now having to prepare banners and other "supporters' items" for the school's annual sports day.
An Enrichment system also runs in the school, which has been met with mixed opinion since its inclusion into the timetable. The idea seems less emphasised than it previously was when first introduced.
On 8 November 2010, Lawrence Sheriff introduced a new security measure in order to protect the school against unauthorised personnel entering the grounds. This took the form of a set of ID cards, a different colour for each section of the school (black for lower school, blue for Sixth Form, and red for staff members). Display of the cards is mandatory for Sixth Form and Staff, though Lower School are required only to be able to present the card when requested. In the future, it will be used to access secure areas of the school, and possibly be used for registration purposes. However, the system has been noted as being a waste of money, particularly within the lower school as they already have a uniform by which they can be identified, but these people do not realise this is a requirement put in place by Ofsted
Read more about this topic: Lawrence Sheriff School