Dear Parents,
As we approach the end of our first term, I have one or two reminders to share to make sure we can continue running the school as efficiently and effectively as possible and ensure that student safety is maintained and home-school contact is conducted positively for all:
Opening and Closing
The safety of our students whilst at school and before and after the school day is paramount.
To this end, I would like to remind everyone about the guidelines and times for school opening and closing during term-time:
School is open for students from 8AM. They must go to the canteen until 8.30, at which point they are welcome to go to form rooms. There are no staff available to monitor students before 8am, and parts of the building will not be open, so students should not be arriving prior to 8am.
School finishes at 3:45 and students who are not traveling by bus, or using their own form of transport are expected to be collected by 4:45 at the latest. We are happy to advise on appropriate bus services for your child.
If waiting for a lift, students should wait in the foyer/ reading room or sixth form common room. They should not wait in form-rooms or other classrooms or practice rooms.
There are no staff available to monitor students beyond 4:45, and so for safeguarding purposes I must insist that all students are collected at the latest by 4:45, unless they are taking part in a formal, teacher led school activity.
There are always occasions due to family emergencies that may necessitate a late collection. In such instances, I would be grateful if you contacted reception with a clear time that your son or daughter will be collected, so we can support you in making proper arrangements for your child’s collection.
Appointments to see staff and email communication
There are obviously times when parents may wish to meet staff at the school. We would be very grateful that if you wish to meet any member of staff that you make an appointment by contacting the teacher you’d like to see or through the school switchboard. We will endeavour to make appointments as swiftly as possible to suit everyone’s diary.
Teachers obviously have full teaching timetables and the office staff, senior and pastoral teams do not necessarily have the capacity to meet anyone who simply arrives in reception. In order to avoid any frustration, we would ask that you make an appointment.
Should you feel that the safety of a child is in question please ensure the member of staff you are speaking to at reception that it is a safeguarding matter that you wish to discuss and a designated safeguarding lead will contact you as swiftly as possible.
Obviously, we want our home-school communication to be as efficient as possible, but also to consider staff workload, and ensure that everyone’s wellbeing is supported, so when contacting staff by email, we aim to respond with an acknowledgement within 2 working days.
There is no expectation that staff will check their email at the weekend, or after 5pm on weekdays.
Drop off at the start and the end of the day
Please do continue to take care when dropping students off at the start and the end of the day. Pay attention to the yellow no parking markings to ensure that school buses can safely pull into the Bus Bay.
With best wishes,
Mark Grady
Head Teacher