Holmer Green Senior School Parent Portal - HGSS Newsletter

Dear Parent or Carer

Welcome to our end of term five newsletter. The wide range of articles shows the diversity of experiences available for all students at Holmer Green Senior School. We have five values: ‘Work Hard, Be Kind, Have Passion, Excellence and Curiosity’. I wish to highlight the three values of: Curiosity, Work Hard and Have Passion.

Firstly, the level of attention and detail that has gone into observational models of shells really epitomise our value of ‘Curiosity’. Well done year 8.

Secondly, those students who have recently visited Somerville College, Oxford and Royal Holloway University demonstrate our ‘Work Hard’ approach and recognise by taking advantage of such experiences, their aspirations continue to develop.

Thirdly, our Year 9 students who have completed their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh overnight and the Year 12/13 who visited Sicily as part of their Geography field trip have all demonstrated a real “Passion” for their own personal growth, or commitment to exploring their studies.

We have an amazing group of young people at Holmer Green Senior School, who are keen to continually improve the school’s community by taking opportunities to become the best possible versions of themselves.

Below are a couple of reminders:

We strongly encourage students to bus, cycle or walk to school to reduce traffic and pollution and to support their own physical wellness. Driving students to school does contribute to poorer air quality and breathing problems as well as reducing physical fitness. Please do not drive along Parish Piece to drop off OR pick up. If you really need to travel by car, please park away from the school, parking safely, legally and respectfully. Please do not park in private local car parks; on yellow zig zag lines; or anywhere that could be dangerous. We spend a disproportionate amount of time dealing with these issues as a school and would prefer to spend it more productively on our students.

Year 11 and 13 students are well into their exam season. It has been great to see all students attending their exams and really wanting to do well. It is a long exam season, but keep on working hard and the rewards will be worth it. You will know you have done your best and never have given up. We wish them all the best of luck.

Lastly, I wanted to notify you of a change in our Mobile Phone Policy, which includes, airpods, etc. From 5 June, we will be running a gate to gate policy, whereby all phones and airpods, etc. will need to be put in student’s bags and turned off before entering the school site. These must not be seen again until students leave site again. Assemblies are taking place around this. The purpose of this is to improve concentration and maximise learning time, whilst also giving students a mental break from the influences of social media.

Tuesday 6 June is the first day back for students after the half-term except for any students who have a GCSE or A Level exam on Monday 5 June.

With the sad passing of Tina Turner recently, I leave our Year 11s and 13s in particular with the following:

“My legacy is that I stayed on course… from the beginning to the end because I believed in something inside of me.”

Believe in yourselves.

Ed Hillyard, Headteacher

New Mobile Phone Policy

At HGSS, we recognise that mobile phones and other digital devices are now an integral part of our culture and can be of considerable value, particularly in relation to personal safety.

However, balanced with this is the need to safeguard children and staff from cyberbullying, inappropriate use of the Internet and telecommunications, and the misuse of social media such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.

As well as the safeguarding issue, the rationale for this is that it has been shown that the effect of banning mobile phones from use on school premises adds up to the equivalent of an extra week’s schooling on students’ progress over every student’s academic year. This is according to research by Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy, published by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. “Ill Communication: The Impact of Mobile Phones on Student Performance” found that after schools banned mobile phones, the test scores of students aged 16 improved by 6.4% or is the “equivalent of adding five days to the school year”.

For these reasons, from 6 June 2023 we will be amending our schools Mobile Phone Policy. From this date:

Students cannot access their mobile devices on school site at any time. This includes before the school day has started whilst they are within the school grounds
Mobile devices should be switched off/power shut down (data, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi should all be disabled)
Mobile devices should be kept in bags or blazer when on the school site and not in trouser pockets
There are a number of clocks in school, students do not need to use their phone to check the time, or students can use a wrist watch
Headphones are treated in the same way as mobile phones and will be confiscated if seen

The same sanctions for the use of mobile phones at school will still apply to students. If a student’s mobile device is seen or heard whilst on school site it will be confiscated for three school days.

The school recognises that parents and carers feel the need for their children to have access to a mobile phone for communication with home. This helps with safeguarding and child protection especially in the long dark winter months. We support this wholeheartedly.

We have therefore adopted the following Mobile Phone Policy best use guidance:

Students are allowed to bring mobile phones to and from school to ensure their personal safety at all times
Students will need to turn off the phone as they enter the school site. They can turn it back on when they leave the site
If a parent/carer needs to contact a student or a student to contact their parent/carer urgently, this can be done through the school Reception

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR CHILD IS ILL OR HAS MEDICAL NEEDS

The school has Medical and Attendance Officers. They are available during school hours to discuss matters relating to the health of your child. It is essential that you notify them of any health problems that your child may have (e.g. medical details, particular problems or needs). We can store spare asthma inhalers and epipens and diabetes monitors.

If your child is taken ill or is involved in an accident during the day, he or she will be looked after in the Medical Room until we can contact a parent or carer. Students should tell their teacher or report to the Medical Room if they feel unwell and not make direct contact with you by mobile phone.

If your child needs to take medication during the day, it should be clearly labelled with the child’s name and passed to the Medical Officer with a letter from the parent or carer. School staff are not allowed to give paracetamol to students although students are permitted to bring two paracetamol to school to be kept in their bag for emergencies. Students who have a medical or a dental appointment should take the appointment card to the Medical Room first thing in the morning. These appointments should be arranged outside school hours where possible. We do not expect a student to take a whole day off for a medical appointment.

LATE ARRIVAL AND ABSENCE

The school gates lock at 8.45am, so students must be on site by this time. Students should be at line up by 8.50am. If your child arrives after 8.45am they will be marked as late. They are required to sign in at the Attendance/Medical Room.

In the first instance the student will be warned to be punctual in the future. If a student is consistently late there will be sanctions. Persistent poor punctuality or attendance will be referred to the Education Welfare Officer.

Email the Attendance Officer if your child is absent or late

attendance@holmer.org.uk

When you know in advance that your son or daughter will have to miss school for any reason, we ask that you inform us in writing beforehand.

However, we reiterate that it is important for your child to attend all lessons, every day. If your needs to attend an appointment, please try to arrange these in the school holidays or after school.

When absence is due to illness, we ask that you telephone the Medical Room as soon as possible on 01494 719901 or email attendance@holmer.org.uk. PLEASE NOTE THAT ABSENCE DUE TO ILLNESS OR MEDICAL REASONS WILL BE RECORDED AS ABSENCE ALTHOUGH IT WILL BE AUTHORISED.

Further information on attendance and Medical concerns can be found here: Medical

AUTHORISED AND UNAUTHORISED ABSENCE

Failure to notify the school will result in your child’s absence being classed as unauthorised which may result in school referring to the Education Welfare Service. Only absences perceived by the school to be genuine will be classed as authorised. Holidays during term time will not be authorised. We will authorise one day for Eid celebrations.

At Holmer Green Senior School we expect an attendance of 96% or more for all students—Every Day Matters.

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HGSS Newsletter - May 2023

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