Parents' Handbook for the Senior School 2016 - 2017)

Parents’ Handbook for the Senior School

Welcome!

We are delighted to provide you with this handbook, which contains information about the Senior School (Year 7 – 11). Please take the time to read it carefully as we believe it is important that you know the routines and procedures we have in place for the benefit and wellbeing of your daughter. We believe a close and active partnership with parents is essential if your daughter is to thrive and succeed. The handbook is a working document and will be kept updated on a regular basis.

We are working to create a school which has at its heart people who care about your daughter.

We are passionate about providing an education in a caring and supportive environment which encourages her to thrive and to fulfil her potential. We encourage all pupils to participate in a wide range of extra-curricular activities, which we see as an essential part of the ‘whole education’ we offer.

We are conscious that for new parents there is a large amount of information to be taken on board when your daughter starts in the Senior School. We hope that this handbook will make those first few weeks easier to navigate. If you have any questions that are not answered here, please do get in touch.

It is the job of the Form Tutor to monitor your daughter’s academic and pastoral well-being, and should you have any questions or concerns please first talk to him or her. Mrs Hoyes, the Deputy Head, oversees pastoral care and is supported by Miss Hobday for the Lower Senior School (Year 7-9) and Mrs Brooks for the Upper Senior School (Year 10-11). Mrs Webb, Deputy Head of Curriculum, will oversee curriculum matters.

Mr Maher will be happy to meet with parents if concerns persist and an appointment can be made by calling or emailing Mrs Pigott, Headmaster’s PA at enquiries@altonconvent.org.uk.

The Chair of Governors, Mr Clive Hexton, may be contacted through the school via a letter addressed as Confidential and sent to the Clerk to the Governors.

Mission Statement ‘Be the best that you can be’ The Roman Catholic faith underpins everything that we do at Alton Convent School. It is the basis for our value system and is the core of our philosophy that every child matters.

The emphasis on the individual within the wider community is a necessary foundation for the happiness and success of the school.

All pupils participate in acts of worship and are expected to be supportive of the school’s ethos.

Ethos

The life of the school is rooted in the Catholic tradition with an emphasis on personal faith, mutual respect, service, integrity, friendship and the need to discover and develop personal talents.

Aims

• To uphold the Ethos of the school, promoting mutual respect and awareness of the wider community • To pursue excellence • To maximise individual potential • To enrich the educational experience of pupils • To maintain strong links with the local and global community

School Day

8.30am - 8.40am

8.40am - 8.50am

8.50am - 9.50am

9.50am - 10.50am

10.50am - 11.10am

11.10am - 12.10pm

12.10pm - 1.10pm

1.10pm - 2.05pm

2.05pm - 2.10pm

2.10pm - 3.10pm

3.10pm - 4.10pm

4.10pm - 6.00pm

Arrival Registration Period 1 Period 2 Break Period 3 Period 4 Lunch Registration Period 5 Period 6 Homework Club (optional and only by request and set arrangement)

Pattern of Assemblies and Tutor Time 8.40-8.50am

Monday Tutor Time Tuesday Tutor Time Wednesday Tutor Time Thursday Tutor Time Friday Private Reading Twice a term House Assembly/meeting

School Lunches

A school meal is provided for all pupils in the Refectory. Girls are encouraged to eat healthily.

They may bring in bottles of water, which may be consumed in lessons in hot weather. No fizzy drinks may be taken into lessons.

Any food brought into school or bought on site must be eaten in the Refectory. Please be aware that we ae a nut-free school.

Houses and Awards

Girls are allocated to one of four houses, St Francis, St John, St Madeleine or St Peter for their school career. Rivalry between the Houses is very keen in a variety of activities and in the Credit system. Sporting and academic effort contribute to the House competition. House awards are presented at the Annual Presentation Evening in November. Girls name their kit with house colour name labels. These can be purchased from the uniform supplier, details available on the website.

Lateness

If a girl is late for school, and this means being late enough to miss registration, she must sign in at the School Office. The electronic register will be amended from this information and late marks given.

Absence

Please notify the school by phone if your daughter is absent. If we have not received notification of your daughter’s absence you will be phoned by the School Office. On her return please send a letter to the Form Teacher; a telephone message is not enough for our records and an email will not have your signature.

Signing in and out of school

If you have to take your daughter out of school, please send a note giving the details of the time, the reason and who will be collecting your daughter. Please collect her from the School Office not the car park, ensuring that she signs out and in again on her return.

Holiday taken during school terms

In line with legislation parents are asked not to book family holidays in term time. The school is not able to give permission for such absence.

The school is not able to give permission for absence due to concerts, birthday treats etc.

Communication

We have a communication system called ClarionCall which allows us to email and text parents.

Routine mail shots regarding trips, visits and events will be sent to parents in this way. More urgent information which we need to communicate to parents, for instance a school closure, will be sent via a text message and backed up by an email. Parents are asked to ensure that they keep us updated with any change of email addresses, mobile numbers, or the need for duplicating mailing.

Parent portal system – ClarionCall’s Parent Message Centre, a highly secure, web-based portal that you can log into anywhere, anytime, on any device.

The Parent Message Centre is a comprehensive communication portal, with everything you need to know easily accessible in one place, allowing you to log-in to a private space to access personal information regarding your child.

We hope that this will prove a very useful tool, enabling you to access key information quickly.

As the year progresses the portal will become more rich in content, but the key features that are immediately available are: •Announcements: we will be able to put important (but not necessarily urgent) messages here.

•Quick Note: this enables you to get a ‘Quick’ one way message to the right person about sickness, unforeseen absenteeism, etc.

•My Messages: all of the ClarionCall messages that we send to your contact email and mobile number will automatically be stored in the ‘My Messages’ section, meaning that they can be easily reviewed at a later date.

•Documents & Newsletters: these will enable you to view important school documents such as public exam timetables, lunch menus etc., as well as school newsletters.

The parent portal can be accessed via https://altonconvent.myclarioncall.co.uk/parent. You may wish to add the link to your browser favourites once you have set up your account.

If you wish to contact a teacher, please contact the School Office by phone or office@altonconvent.org.uk and ask them to forward a message to the particular member of staff.

Concerns

All the staff have responsibility for the personal and academic development of the girls but if you have any problems concerning your daughter, you are asked to first write to or phone the Form Teacher who is a key figure in the pastoral programme of the school. If the concern continues, or is of a serious nature, you may wish to contact Miss Hobday (Year 7 - 9) or Mrs Brooks (Years 10 - 11) and eventually the Deputy Head Pastoral, Mrs Hoyes, by leaving a message with Mrs Pigott, enquiries@altonconvent.org.uk. Mr Maher, the Headmaster, will also be happy to meet with parents if your concerns are not addressed to your satisfaction.

Mobile Phones and Computers

Whilst we know girls might need mobile phones for security to and from school, we do not accept responsibility for phones unless they are handed in for safe-keeping during the day.

While in school all phones must be switched off and remain locked in lockers - not left in blazer pockets. Girls are able to make calls home from the School Office for urgent matters only.

Please do not expect your daughter to send or receive messages from you on her mobile during the school day. Please do not phone your daughter on her mobile whilst at school. If a girl uses a mobile phone during school hours it will be confiscated and returned when the Headmaster or Deputy Headmistress feels it is appropriate. Phones, however, may be taken into After School Prep so that parents can let their daughter know when they have arrived in the Car Park. This will prevent girls from having to wait outside in the dark and cold during the winter months.

We do not wish mobile phones to be taken on school trips by the younger girls. Please respect and support this decision which has been made in the light of experience. If you need to be contacted this will be done by the staff.

Please keep an eye on how much time is spent on the telephone and mobile phone at home.

Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and other social networking sites all waste huge amounts of time, escalate emotional worries and the best advice is to ban them. They may be used to send and receive unpleasant messages and young people think it is ‘cool’ to collect as many friends as possible. No child under 14 should be allowed access in theory. It may help your daughter if you set a ban at a reasonable time in the evening and you keep the phone downstairs at bed time.

If you allow them, please monitor what information your daughter is giving out and receiving.

Photographs and content may not be what you would expect or wish. Believing that your daughter’s right to ‘privacy’ is more important than her safety is not a sensible argument.

Social networking sites, emails and text messages are all ways in which your daughter may place herself at risk unwittingly. You must put your daughter’s safety before her privacy. Please keep checking what they are doing as they grow older. Girls become addicted to social media contact.

The messages sent by social sites, emails and by mobile phones can be used for Cyberbullying.

Homework

Girls are issued with a homework diary and homework timetable and we ask parents to help us by checking and signing the diary on a weekly basis. There will be 2 or 3 subjects per night during the week and an additional subject at weekends. It is very important that girls are well organised, that they record all homework in their Diary and that homework is given in on time.

Girls are strongly advised, where possible, to do homework on the night set, even if set three or four days in advance.

If for any reason homework was unable to be completed, a note should be sent to the subject teacher.

It is recommended that Year 7 girls spend on average approximately 30 minutes per night on each homework. If girls persistently spend a great deal longer (or less time), parents should inform the Form Teacher; there is space in the Homework Diary. Please do not hesitate to contact the Form Teacher if you feel your daughter is having a problem with her homework or is spending an exceptionally long time on it. Please stop her and record the time taken and your decision to stop her at the end of the homework for the subject teacher to read. It will be fine to write into the exercise book directly.

It is important that the Homework Diary is signed each week by the Form or Support Tutor and by a Parent. This is a simple way for you to check what is going on and you may use the Diary to mention any homework concerns.

If a Diary needs to be replaced, a replacement charge will appear on your fee invoice.

Show My Homework

Show My Homework is an online tool to help you keep track of your daughter’s homework.

It will allow you to see the details of the tasks your daughter has been set, as well as its submission status and grades. You will be given a parent login PIN ready-linked to your daughter’s homework calendar.

Features • 24/7 access • View quality and quantity of homework • Translation into over 50 languages • Apps available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Android devices • Receive automated notifications before homework is due We hope that this service will provide parents with a deeper insight into the homework your daughter receives. More importantly, we hope that it will improve your daughter’s organisation, time-management, and help her to keep on top of her workload.

Your daughter will receive her login details during her first week.

If you need to get in touch with the school regarding Show My Homework, please contact Mrs Stoodley via email at jstoodley@altonconvent.org.uk

Homework Club

Girls may stay at school until 6.00 pm to do homework. This needs to be by written parental request and a clear indication of which days your daughter will stay. If a girl is booked into the Homework Club and will not be attending for any reason, please notify the school. If a girl fails to turn up and no notification is given, the School Office must call home and this is very time consuming. It is important she is collected promptly at 6.00 pm. Girls may leave before this time but please give the school the precise timings and days of the week required. If parents fail to turn up, girls will be taken to the Convent Manor House and they can be collected from there.

Credits and Warnings

Girls are rewarded by a system of credits. This enables them to receive a progression of individual certificates and to contribute to their House for the Academic cup. They earn certificates and gold star badges.

The diary also records a D – this indicates a Debit. Three Ds result in an after school detention and a letter will be sent home should your daughter need to be collected at 5.00 pm on a Tuesday. Please support our discipline structure and do not ask for a lunchtime detention instead. Late and missing homework automatically results in a lunchtime detention. The details are recorded in the Homework Diary. Ds and Detentions are best accepted and girls encouraged to move on. Learning for life is about taking responsibility for one’s actions and failures.

Masses

Regular Masses are held at the start and end of each term, on Holy Days of Obligation (if at all possible) and on other special occasions. The dates for these Masses can be found in the School Calendar. Attendance at School Mass is compulsory for all pupils.

Pupils go on a day retreat each year to St Lucy’s Convent, Medstead and there is a small charge to cover costs.

Presentation Evening

Presentation Evening is the occasion when we celebrate the success of our pupils. Certificates are presented to all who have taken external examinations and Prizes are given to pupils throughout the school for good conduct, effort, achievement, progress and contribution to the school. This event is held in the Autumn Term by invitation. If you receive an invitation it has special significance and indicates that your daughter is to be presented with a prize or she is performing in the choir or orchestra. Please make every effort to accept the invitation and RSVP.

Expectations of pupils

Please note, we hold two Open Mornings for prospective pupils and a further one on a Saturday in the Summer Term. The Saturday Open Day is a school day and all pupils are expected to attend and will be registered. Please make arrangements to ensure other commitments are moved. We welcome both prospective parents and parents of current pupils to the Saturday Open Morning.

We hold a Christmas Bazaar and the PTFA Summer Fete on a Saturday. These are both fundraising events for the benefit of pupils.

It is an expectation that pupils attend and support these events and we would be grateful if, as soon as you have the School Calendar, you put these Saturday dates into your diary.

Phone calls home

The School Office does not have time to deal with non-urgent messages for girls. Please respect their working commitments. If you do however require an urgent message to be delivered to your daughter before the end of the day at 4.10 pm, please ensure you have contacted the School Office by 3.30 pm at the latest.

Car Park

The lower car park is for staff parking.

The upper right is for the Prep School parents to park and drop off.

The upper left is for the Senior School parents to park and drop off and for Sixth Formers to park. It is also used as a staff overflow car park.

If the car park is full please park in Anstey Lane but not too close to the school exit.

The car park contains loose shingle, be sure to drive carefully and slowly when passing through. There is a 5mph limit because small children do not always pay attention.

Please use the closed off pathways, do not walk in the parking areas.

Please do not stop to drop pupils off before reaching the allocated area. We aim to minimise the danger to all. Parents who stop on the drive, on the slope or in the staff car park cause problems.

Although there is no one-way system indicated, please drive on out through the car parks and not back up the main drive.

The crossing is patrolled from 8.30 am to 9.00 am and from 3.30 pm to 4.30 pm. Please use this crossing and move in front of the person on duty, not behind out of his/her vision.

The Garden House Day Nursery car park is a drop off point only for parents taking children to the Nursery.

Remember you are responsible for your child’s safety and for the safety of all the other children who use the car park.

Medical Arrangements

If a girl feels unwell during a lesson the class teacher will send her to the School Office and the Welfare Officer will be contacted. If it is outside of lesson time then the pupil must in the first instance contact her Form Teacher who will assess the situation, then contact the Welfare Officer. A number of staff are qualified first-aiders. Paracetamol may only be issued to a girl if parents have given consent by signing the back of the medical form. If a girl is not well enough to remain in school, or needs hospital treatment, parents will be contacted. A girl may not phone home, or leave the School, without prior permission from the Form Teacher, Deputy Headmistress or Headmaster.

Girls should never be phoning you direct to ask for you to come and collect them.

If your daughter has a life-threatening condition which would require a teacher to administer a particular drug (for example the Epipen for anaphylactic shock) please contact the School Welfare officer for a separate form.

Immunisations

We follow the programme offered by Hampshire NHS and currently the only immunisation given is the HPV 1-3 course of three injections to Year 8 pupils. The Heaf test and the vaccination for TB is no longer offered to schools. Many students choose to travel extensively in GAP years and holidays and it would be sensible for parents to ask their own GPs about this immunisation. A meningitis booster is advisable before university.

The School Medical Policy can be found on the website under ‘About Us – Policies’.

Head Lice

Please check your daughter’s hair regularly. If you daughter is unlucky enough to catch head lice, we need her to stay at home until you can guarantee that her hair is clear. Please let the school know so that we can ask parents in the year group to check their daughters.

Impetigo

Impetigo can be a problem from time to time. Please keep your daughter at home until the spots have stopped blistering or crusting, or until the antibiotic cream has been applied for 48 hours.

School Records

Records are checked regularly to ensure we have the most up-to-date information for your daughter, but we ask you to be vigilant about keeping contact details updated. Should there be any change in your family circumstances, or any problem that may affect your daughter, please let the school know in writing as soon as possible.

Lost Property

Some girls are notoriously casual about their property and as it is expensive to replace, PLEASE ENSURE THAT ALL SCHOOL UNIFORM AND GAMES KIT IS LABELLED WITH THE CORRECT NAME. Please try to put a name on shoes and trainers. Form Teachers check all clothing at the start of the terms. Eventually unclaimed items will go to the secondhand shop, or to charity. Lost property queries are best dealt with by the Form Teacher.

Lockers

All girls have a locker with a key. Girls are asked not to bring valuable items, or large sums of money to school, but anything of value should be locked away. We cannot accept responsibility for anything lost from bags or blazers. The lockers are not suitable to take large holdalls so please ensure PE kit is kept in a small bag (supplied by our school uniform supplier) that will fit into the lockers. We are not able to accommodate large holdalls around the locker area. Please have a bag for PE shoes – a plastic bag, if not the required trainer bag. The School Office keeps a spare locker key but girls will be charged for any replacement needed. At the end of the year there should be two keys for each locker returned to the School Office.

Extra Support

Private support lessons for girls who need help with spelling/organisation etc. is available and is co-ordinated by Miss Hobday.

Counsellor

Mrs Clare de Lotbiniere is available to give private sessions for which there is a charge of £35 per session. She may be contacted through Mrs Hoyes.

School Trips

There are outings and residentials of academic, cultural and leisure interest. These extracurricular activities provide exciting opportunities for girls to gain experiences beyond the curriculum as well as extending the curriculum. Some are optional such as the ski trips, cultural visit, trip to Wimbledon, or the regular Modern Languages exchange trips, others are extensions to the curriculum and girls are expected to take part.

There are extra-curricular residential weekends for each year group and these are opportunities for the girls to bond together and broaden friendships. There are girls who may find staying away from home difficult and the residential programme is a good way of helping them. It is anticipated that all girls participate in each year’s residential trip. Please trust us with any overanxious girl. In addition there are field trips, visits to museums, galleries and theatres, which are all considered essential for the delivery of the academic curriculum.

Year 7 : Residential activity weekend Year 8 : Residential cultural visit to France Year 9 : Residential visit to Battlefields Year 10 : Residential visit to Bath and Bristol Year 11 : Residential weekend to Canterbury Sixth Form: Residential Personal Development & Leadership Weekend

Trip to Paris

Pilgrimage to Lourdes with HCPT

Cultural visit to Amsterdam

India Expedition

New York

Collection from Trips

The staff provide parents with a fair estimate of the arrival time at school after a trip. Trips are hard work to organise and Alton Convent staff are very good about giving up their own time voluntarily. Please respect their need to get home at the end of a trip promptly by being in the car park waiting. Many staff live long distances from the school and should not be expected to wait with ‘uncollected’ pupils. If there is any significant change then you will be advised by ClarionCall message, or a teacher may choose to instigate a cascade system.

Parents’ Evenings

There will be one Parents’ Evening as the norm for each year group, although Year 7 have an additional one, the first being in the Autumn Term which is an opportunity to meet the Form Tutor. The second is later in the year, when all subject teachers will be available. Year 9 will also have an Options Evening in the Spring Term.

You do need to arrive with a list of the staff who teach your daughter and to know which options she studies. Year 10, 11, 12 and 13 pupils are invited to attend with their parents.

Evenings are organised through a queuing system. Teachers will have a long list of parents to see in 2 hours so if you feel you need longer than 5 minutes please ask the teacher for a further meeting or telephone call.

Reports

All pupils receive personal reports and homework marks are recorded electronically and sent home. You will receive a schedule for Reporting at the beginning of the Autumn term.

Languages At Alton Convent School, we teach three modern foreign languages: French, German and Spanish. Pupils pick two out of these three languages and will study them throughout Year 7, 8 and 9. In Year 8, they will have an option to learn Latin. At the end of Year 9, pupils will decide which language(s) to study for their GCSEs. French, German and Spanish are also offered as A level subjects at our school.

STEM A programme to increase your child’s choice and chances through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

To ensure children, regardless of background, are encouraged to……

• Understand that Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are all around us • Recognise the career opportunities to which the STEM subjects can lead • Be at the forefront of change in the world around us What do we do?

• STEM opportunities for all years • A programme for students to train as young STEM Ambassadors and then to work to promote STEM in the school and the local community.

• STEM Days – specific deep learning days assigned to STEM projects • Regular talks from outside speakers and linked STEM companies • Enrichment activities for all year groups • Build close ties with other schools through the delivery of STEM projects

School Fees

The Governing Body determines these annually early in the Spring Term. Fees are payable in advance on the first day of each term. Parents are able to set up a monthly standing order over 10 months, September – July to cover the school fees. Please contact Mrs Hayward, in the Accounts Department for further details. Parents are reminded that a term’s notice is required when a girl is to be withdrawn from the school. Please remember that our Senior School is from Year 7 – 13 and the expectation is that girls leave at the end of the Upper Sixth.

Trips etc. can be paid for via cheque, cash or by bank transfer. On the trip letter that you will receive and are asked to return there will be a facility to indicate how you are making payment.

Please email tripfinance@altonconvent.org.uk with any queries.

Public Examinations

Parents are reminded that there is a fee for each exam taken at GCSE, A/S and A2 levels. This is not included in the school fees and you will receive a separate invoice.

There are GCSE exams in both the fourth and fifth year

Insurance

School fees include a premium for insurance against personal accident; it does not cover loss of personal possessions. Alton Convent School cannot be responsible for the personal effects of pupils. Parents are advised to cover loss or damage through the all-risks section of their household insurance.

Text Books, Stationery and Art & Design material

All new pupils will be issued with a complete set of stationery to include an Art Sketch book and a Homework Diary. Further stationery can be ordered as needed on a weekly basis and this is included in the school fees. A calculator, foreign language dictionaries and an Atlas, however, may be purchased through the school during the first term. We like girls to include in their pencil case a fountain pen, glue stick and a pair of scissors. An English Dictionary is necessary for use at school and home. Textbooks are provided. All pupils are expected to have a blue art overall, a white lab coat and a blue apron for Food Technology. These are available from our school uniform supplier and need a name label.

Additional sports equipment needed (not available from Stevensons) • Trainers with non-marking soles • Football boots • Shin Pads • Mouth guard (a letter is handed out at the beginning of term regarding these) • Sports Bag (available from Stevensons, but not included on the uniform list)

School Buses

We operate transport services to and from school for Basingstoke, Liphook/Petersfield, Farnham, Haslemere and Winchester areas. Details of the current routes and pick-up points are available from the School Office and on the website.

Extra- Curricular Activities and Clubs

The school runs clubs and societies for example: Dance, Jigsaw, Unihoc, Running, Beading, Chick Flicks, Eco Warrior, Board Games, ESB, LAMDA, Debating, Show Tunes, Pen Pal, Creative Writing, History.

Girls will have the opportunity at the beginning of each term to select the club and/or societies that they want to join. Girls are encouraged to join at least two a term.

Music and Drama

Alton Convent School has a reputation for exceedingly high standards in music. The quality of the academic results and concerts speak for themselves. Besides the two specialist class music teachers, a team of highly qualified peripatetic staff support the department, allowing pupils to take part in music-making at every level. The Music Department is committed to helping pupils reach their full potential.

In addition to music within the curriculum, individual tuition is available in all the following instruments: Piano, Keyboard, Theory, Voice, Guitar (acoustic, electric and bass), Recorder, Flute, Oboe, Bassoon, Clarinet, Saxophone, Trumpet/Cornet, Tenor/French Horn, Trombone, Euphonium, Violin, Viola, Violoncello, Double Bass, Percussion.

Individual music lessons

Parents wishing their daughters to receive private lessons in music should complete the necessary form and return it to Mrs Douglas, Head of Music, who will then contact you.

Occasionally there may be a waiting list. Arrangements for fees and lessons are with the peripatetic teacher and not the school.

If your daughter plays a musical instrument or sings there is an expectation that she joins the choir and/or orchestra.

Regular music groups include: Orchestra, Senior Choir, Junior Choir, Chamber Choir, Ensembles ‘Music Together’ initiative - consisting of: • Strings Together - lunch time sessions for small groups of absolute beginners in Years 3 and 4 in four week cycles • Voices Together - lunch time sessions of small groups of absolute beginners in Years 3 and 4 • Chamber Music Together - chamber music sessions with advanced pupils in the senior school

Drama

The Drama Department stage an annual productions which is produced in conjunction with the Music Department. Past shows have included, Annie, Alice in Wonderland, Singin’ in the Rain, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Anything Goes.

Sport

ACS runs a number of extra-curricular Sports Clubs and Academies including Athletics, Swimming, Tennis, Netball, Hockey, Girls’ Football, Trampolining, Rounders, Archery, Triathlon, Equestrain and Gymnastics.

Sport Academies

Tennis academy allows all children from Reception through to our Sixth Form to receive professional coaching year round. Lessons include technical and tactical coaching within singles and doubles, and different game situations. In the winter months we have the use of Kingsley Tennis Centre, a fantastic facility with four indoor tennis courts, and during the summer term tennis is played at school on our four outdoor hard courts.

We also offer Equestrian, Athletics and Gymnastics Academies - further details can be found on our website, or please ask at the School Office.

Parent, Teacher, Friends’ Association (PTFA) All parents are automatically members of the PTFA when they join the school. Parents want their children to succeed and by supporting the school you can help achieve that.

There is a committee who meet regularly to organize the running of events. However, the success of everything they do depends very much upon the enthusiasm and support offered by the whole school community. They keep a record of willing helpers so that kind offers of help be it donations or time can be utilized when required. Please feel free to let us know if you have experience or expertise which might be helpful. The school calendar, which is sent out in the summer holidays and can be found on the website, contains dates of main PTFA events and information will be emailed to you through the school’s ClarionCall system.

The school provides coffee and tea on a Friday morning for parents between 8.30am and 9.30am in the Refectory. One or two members of the PTFA committee can usually be found there so please come and say hello and meet fellow parents.

If you would like to be on the PTFA list of willing helpers, or have any questions, please email ptfa@altonconvent.org.uk including your son or daughter’s year group. Mrs Frances Thompson is the current Chairman of the PTFA and can be contact by the above email or via the School Office.

Policies for Parents

The school Ethos statement and the following school policies will be found on our website. If you wish to have a hard copy please contact Mrs Pigott, the Headmaster’s Personal Assistant, at enquiries@altonconvent.org.uk.

Admissions Anti-bullying Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy with Appendices Complaints Procedure Confidentiality Disability Policy and Procedures Discipline, Behaviour, Rewards and Sanctions Emergency Closure English as a Second Language Policy and Procedures Ethos First Aid Health and Safety Missing Child Non Collection of child School Trips and Educational Visits Special Educational Needs Provision

School Office

The School Office should be the first port of call for all visitors to the school. The office staff will be able to take messages from parents for staff and provide information. Please feel free to telephone or call in during school hours when there will always be someone willing to help (01420 82070 or office@altonconvent.org.uk). It is suggested that you add this to your contact list on your email and/or phone.

School Information

A school calendar is produced termly and distributed to parents during the summer holidays, Christmas holidays and Easter holidays. It is also available on our website. If you require information to be emailed to an absent parent please indicate this on the datasheet and we will forward these by ClarionCall.

There is a wealth of regularly updated news and information on the school Website, www.altonconvent.org.uk.

Members of staff can be contacted via the School Office.

Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint please refer to the Complaints Procedures which are available on the Website or from the Headmaster’s PA, enquiries@altonconvent.org.uk.

First Day of Term – New Pupils

The first day of term for Year 7 pupils will be Tuesday, 6th September at 9.30am to 3.30pm and for all other year groups, Wednesday, 7th September at 8.30am. New pupils are asked to wear winter uniform for the start of term.

We look forward to working with you to provide your daughter with success and happiness and an excellent preparation for adult life.

Alton Convent School, Anstey Lane, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 2NG Tel: 01420 82070 Email: enquiries@altonconvent.org.uk Website: altonconvent.org.uk www.facebook.com/alton.conventschool www.twitter.com/AltonConventSch