Frequently Asked Questions
 

Who are the Senior Leadership Team? 

Mr S Flowers - Principal
Mrs J Farrer - Vice Principal - Leadership & Strategy
Mrs L Lakin - Vice Principal - Standards and Performance
Mr D Alexis - Senior Assistant Principal - Inclusion
Mrs J Martin - Assistant Principal - Assessment & Curriculum
Miss V Taylor - Assistant Principal - Teaching & Learning
Mrs S Holdsworth - Assistant Principal - Personal Development & Wellbeing (PDWB)
Mr A Smith - Assistant Principal - 14-19
Miss C Dodd - Acting Assistant Principal/Teaching CPD (Continuing Professional Development)

The team provides strong leadership for the school and they will continue to be focused upon our 3 key aims:
- To know our children well
- To be partners in learning
- To enjoy and achieve
 
How does the school meet these aims?
The whole school staff team contribute to the overall safety and well-being of our pupils. We aim to know our children well in a number of different ways, for example, through coaching, on-going assessments of progress and behaviour, the School Council Assembly and sub-groups and a range of out of school activities. It is important to us to remember that each pupil is an individual and we carefully tailor our support to offer a wide choice of academic and vocational pathways. Our school is a safe, warm and friendly place to be and we believe it is important that staff and pupils work together as partners in learning to ensure that we can provide a positive and successful environment for everyone. 
The standards we set in classrooms are very high; we expect pupils to respect each other and give everyone the opportunity to learn, develop and progress to their full potential. We also develop partnerships with organisations outside of the school to give our pupils an even broader range of learning opportunities.
Children spend about 15% of their time at school over a year and it is therefore essential that we help them to enjoy and achieve whilst they are with us.

What time does my child have to be at school? 
The first lesson of the day starts promptly at 8:30am. Pupils are expected to be on site no later than 8:20am everyday. 

Why is my child’s attendance at school important?
If a child’s attendance is less than 90% (for example missing a day every 2 weeks), then work will suffer. It is recognised that less than 90% attendance results in the pupil dropping at least one grade in their final exams. Every child should therefore be aiming for 100% attendance. 
Should attendance drop below 85%, the school will refer the child and family to our Attendance Improvement Officer who may offer support and help in order to avoid court proceedings. 

What is a Full Value Contract?
A ‘Full Value Contract’ is a social contract that helps to create a ‘safe place to be’ for every member of the school community and for the interactions among community members. It is an agreed structure within which expectations are established and to which members can hold one another accountable. The notion of ‘full value’ refers to assigning ‘full value’ to others rather than ‘discounting’ them. The Full Value Contract helps groups to engage in goal setting in terms of how the group will operate together. Everyone shares what they are willing to do within the group. The contract is a ‘living’ document, in that it is reviewed regularly and modified if necessary. The foundation of a Full Value Contract includes: 
Agreement to work together as a group towards a set of group and individual goals, agreement to certain safety and group behaviours, and agreement to give and receive feedback, and change behaviour when it is necessary. 

What rate of progression should I expect for my child each year?
Expected progress would be 2 sub-levels per year and at least 3 full levels over a pupil’s 5 years at high school. Levels in subjects such as French, will start off lower due to it being a new subject for pupils. Pupils normally ‘catch up’ by Year 9. 

How is my child assessed?
Teachers assess a pupil’s progress, effort, attitude to learning and organisation using a scale of 1 – 4 where:

‘1’ represents very good (above target)
‘2’ represents expected (on target)
‘3’ represents review (not secure)
‘4’ represents poor (below target) 

Progress Reports are discussed individually with each child in school and sent home for parents / carers to celebrate achievement and / or provide support when required. A letter accompanying the Progress Report provides an overview of the pupil’s development and offers guidance to parents / carers and pupils. Each half term pupil, parent and coach meet to review their reports. Each year, parent / carers receive a full written report, outlining progress and targets for all subjects in the curriculum and from the coach, Pupil Development Manager and Senior Leadership Team. At the end of each full term (3 times a year) we hold Merit and Commendation Assemblies to celebrate and reward individual pupil achievement and issue Gold, Silver, Bronze and Standard Merit Certificates and prizes. Pupils can also be nominated for a Special Commendation at these presentation Assemblies. Recognition is also attributed to those pupils who have achieved 100% school attendance.
 

What is the House System?
All pupils and staff are members of one of four Houses which are named after local sporting heroes (Jason) Robinson, (Jane) Tomlinson, (Fred) Trueman and (Billy) Bremner. Pupils wear the school tie colour of their house (Purple for Robinson, Green for Tomlinson, Yellow for Trueman and Blue for Bremner). Pupils can earn points (stamps) for their house in lessons and coaching and for other activities, for example, attending clubs, revision classes and representing the school. Each week individual pupil points are collected and input into a database which tallies the totals for each House. At the end of the school year, after Summer Sports Day, the House with the most accumulated points is presented with the Annual House Trophy.

Who are the Governing Body?
The school’s Governing Body is made up of twelve people representing the Local Education Authority (LEA), parents/carers, the local community and staff. Governors meet 6 times a year as a full Governing Body and more regularly on one of 3 sub-groups that have been established to monitor issues relating to Staffing and Curriculum, Finance and Buildings, and our Pastoral approach. Governors undertake a very responsible role in the school, ensuring that we meet statutory requirements and continue to develop and progress.

Can we take our children out of school to go on holiday?
In line with Government, local authority and school policies, holidays during term time are not automatically authorised unless in exceptional circumstances. All requests must be submitted to the Headteacher at least 10 days in advance for consideration, via the form under ‘Letters to Parents’ on this website. 
Please note absence requests during the month of September will not be authorised under any circumstances.