Rewards

To encourage students to develop good working habits the school uses a system of merits. Every member of staff can give merits for good work. Find more details here.

Charities

Students are encouraged to raise money to help those less fortunate than themselves. Working with the Salvation Army, we make Christmas gift boxes for local people. Charities are supported through the House system and students organise various fundraising events. The money that is raised through ‘civvies days’ is also given to charity.

Holidays in term time

It is expected that family holidays are normally taken during the 13 weeks of school holidays. The school holiday dates are always available a year in advance, in order to allow parents to plan ahead and holidays should never be booked during term-time.

In September 2013, the Regulations changed and the school is now prevented from granting any leave of absence except in exceptional circumstances. Family holidays, reunions, special birthdays and other family events are not considered exceptional and so we will not be able to grant leave of absence for such events.

Absences

Absences for appointments: A note should be written to the Form Tutor or Head of Year giving exact information as to the time of the appointment and when the child needs to leave school. The student should also ask a friend to take note of any work being missed or homework set and it is the student’s responsibility to catch up with missing work. Before leaving school, students need to sign out at Reception (showing an appointment card), and sign in again on their return.

Absences for performances: Occasionally we have requests for students to take time off school to appear in shows. Permission can only be considered if supported by a licence listing the exact dates when the child will be absent. A holiday form must also be completed as such time away from school is counted as absence which must be formally sanctioned by the school.

First Aid/Illness

Illnesses and accidents are dealt with as they occur. Students should go to Reception to alert the duty first aider when they are unwell or if they require support.

Mrs Hall is the School Counsellor and is available to offer support to students. Mrs Hall can be contacted through school on 01427 612354.

Sanctions

All students are made aware of the School Rules and the Code of Conduct and reminded of their importance. A copy of the Code of Conduct can be found on our website. Sanctions for misbehaviour include written tasks, lunchtime detentions and, on rare occasions, Friday night detentions. Parents are made aware of lunchtime detentions by a stamp in their child’s planner. In the case of Friday night detentions parents are notified by letter and given at least 24 hours notice. For very serious breaches of discipline students can be excluded from the school by the Headteacher.

The House System

The House system creates six small schools within a big school, allowing students to mix with others of different ages. It also provides the opportunity for all students to be involved in a variety of competitions ranging from all types of sport to chess, drama, art, music and public speaking. Each student will join one of six Houses, named after eminent Britons: Austen, Brunel, Churchill, Darwin, Elgar and Scott and wear a tie showing their House colour. The Houses compete annually for the House Cup and meet regularly for House assemblies.

School Council

The School Council meets regularly to discuss a wide variety of issues that affect the students such as behaviour, charities and how the working environment can be improved. Each form will elect two form captains (one boy and one girl), one form captain from each of KS3, KS4 and KS5 will attend School Council meetings. Each student has the chance to suggest any topic which they think needs discussing.

Complaints

A copy of the School’s Complaints Policy is available on the School’s website here.