Letter to Parents/Carers (12/05/2022)
12th May 2022
Dear parents and carers,
As we enter the exam period for our Year 11 and Year 13 students, we must ensure that all of our students are maximising learning time in and out of lessons. We will be reminding all year groups of our clear expectations, as outlined in our "Havelock Way" over the coming days and applying sanctions where necessary. It may feel more strict to some students but it is important that they understand why we have these expectations in place, to ensure no time is wasted in lessons and all students can learn without interruptions.
We are very clear about our high expectations, with key information regularly updated on our website and our Student Guide published each year, including with updates as needed if we have changes in staffing. You can find this, along with many other useful documents, if you scroll down on the Parent Information page on our website. Our website also includes clear information on uniform and equipment. Please ensure that your child is in the correct uniform, with the correct equipment, each day. This serves as an even playing field for all students in our community. In cases of hardship, please contact your child's head of year so that we can see what support can be made available.
Our behaviour policy is applied to all year groups, including sixth form, with clear expectations to allow all students to learn in a positive environment. If a student is not focused on their work or disrupts a lesson in any way, they are issued with a "C1", recorded on the board. A "C2" is issued if there is any further issue, serving as a final warning, allowing the student the opportunity to remain in the lesson and follow the clear expectations, including focusing fully on their learning. A "C3" will then be issued if there are any further issues and at this point the student will spend the rest of the lesson in our removal room, where they will be supervised to work independently from their knowledge organiser. A detention will be issued for the same day. C2 and C3 notifications are recorded centrally so you should receive notification of these on the My Child At School (MCAS) app.
If a student fails to report to the removal room following a C3 or does not attend their timetabled lesson or tutorial on time, this will be treated as internal truancy. Students should not be out of lessons without a note from the teacher or a valid, up to date, toilet pass. Internal truancy may result in a suspension and follow up work to enable the student to understand the safeguarding implications of them not being where they are supposed to be.
We have around 1000 students at Havelock and we want them all to succeed. We are promoting the rewards and recognition available to students at the moment, as an encouragement for all students to work hard, be kind and make an active contribution to the Havelock family. We are hoping to be able to run rewards trips again in the future as this is something that we enjoyed doing before the Covid pandemic and we feel that the majority of our students deserve recognition for their excellent contributions in and out of the classroom.
Attending school punctually and maintaining good routines, including being punctual to all lessons, are key to success and we appreciate your support as parents and carers with this. We recently published (also available on our website) a full list of tutor email addresses so that it is easy for you to contact your child's tutor to ask any questions and raise any concerns early on. Our tutors are supported by a team of Heads of Year and a wider pastoral care team who are all keen to help.
We are already making exciting plans for the new school year in September, but in the meantime we are keen to ensure that our Year 11 and 13 students have a successful exam series and all of our other students are able to focus on their learning right through to the summer holidays.
Thank you for all of your ongoing support.
Kind regards,
E Marshall and the leadership team at Havelock
