BHSA Sixth Form Hand Book 15/16

SIXTH FORM HANDBOOK

‘I can, You can, We can’

Sixth form contents Welcome from the Principal A message from your daughter’s Progress Leader Key staff and contact details Term dates 2015-2016 Timings of the school day Learner Qualities Dress code Equipment Policies

Welcome from the Principal Dear parent/carer,

On the basis that ‘failing to prepare is preparing to fail’ we have tried to pull together some important information about the forthcoming year for your daughter/ward at BHSA. We hope you will find this short booklet a useful reference tool in the coming months, and we look forward to working with you to ensure a positive and productive future for your daughter/ward.

Mrs Mann, Principal

A MESSAGE FROM YOUR DAUGHTER’S/WARD’S PROGRESS LEADER Year 12/13 H MCCARTHY Welcome from the Head of Sixth Form Sixth Form is a highly significant and exciting moment in a student’s school career.

At Birkenhead High School Academy we pride ourselves on a high level of pastoral care and support which helps students to prepare for that next stage of life. Engaging teaching and high expectations inspire academic ambition and a passion for lifelong learning; a modern curriculum with rigorous progress monitoring and mentoring ensures that all students achieve their potential whatever their starting point.

We believe that success in the Sixth Form hinges on the level of personal commitment invested and the motivation to achieve your personal ambitions. In our Sixth Form we have developed a community based enrichment programme which is designed to help students develop the widest possible range of skills to be able to enrich their own life and also the lives of others.

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome students to our Sixth Form whether they may be a new or returning student; I look forward to working with you and hope the time you spend with us will be both rewarding and enjoyable.

Mrs McCarthy

Term dates 2015-2016 Additional dates are added throughout the year e.g. parents’ evenings, celebration evenings, work experience and examination results. Please check the school website www.birkenheadhigh.gdst.net or Firefly for updates.

Autumn term 2015 Spring term 2015 Summer term 2015

Term begins

Half term

Term ends

7th September

19th October – 30st October 12th February – 19th February 30th May – 6th June

18th December

5th January 18th April

1st April 13th July

Staff study day: Wednesday 7th October; Friday 12th February; Monday 6th June Bank Holiday: Monday 2nd May 2016 Year 12 Form Tutor Review 15th October 2015 Year 12 Parents Evening 10th February 2016 Year 13 Parents Evening 15th October 2015 Please be aware that the Government has changed the regulations around holidays in term time from September 2013. It has always been academy policy to discourage such absences in term time because of the detrimental impact on students’ education at whatever age or stage they may be, but from September 2013 heads and principals “may not grant any leave of absence during term time” and you are therefore urged to make best use of the generous holiday periods at the academy.

Please note – GCSE and A Level coursework deadlines are spread throughout the academic year (specific dates will vary from course to course). Often these assessments are externally moderated, therefore dates will be nonnegotiable.

Timings of the school day Registration Assembly/Form Time Period 1 Period 2 Break Period 3 Period 4 Lunch/Enrichment Registration Period 5 Enrichment

8.35 am – 8.40 am 8.40 am – 8.50 am 8.50 am – 9.50 am 9.50 am – 10.50 am 10.50 am – 11.10 am 11.10 am – 12.10 pm 12.10 pm – 1.10 pm 1.10 pm – 2.25 pm 2.25 pm – 2.35 pm 2.35 pm – 3.35pm 3.35 pm – 5.00 pm

Please note we operate a two week timetable – students must ensure they know at all times (and especially after school holidays) whether it is an ‘A week’ or ‘B week’ to ensure they have the correct equipment and homework and arrive promptly to the appropriate lessons.

BHSA Learner Qualities

At BHSA, Learner Qualities are key elements of a student’s life-long learning journey. We encourage students, in all aspects of school life, to show and build upon these qualities. The six learner qualities help students to grow as individuals and be the most effective learners they can be.

Key staff and contact details Telephone 0151 652 5777 Email birkenheadhighschoolacademy@birkhs.gdst.net Principal

Mrs Mann

Vice Principal

Mrs Earle

Senior Assistant Vice Principal

Mrs Haynes

Assistant Vice Principal

Mrs McKenna *SLT lead for 6th Form

For any pastoral issues or concerns about general progress: Head of Sixth Form

Mrs McCarthy Ms Holleron*(Assistant Head of Sixth Form)

Year 12/13 Form Tutors

Mrs Shannon Dr Nelson Ms Potter Mr Duffy Mrs Rawlins Mrs Crawford Ms Jeffcott

Supporting Form Tutors

Ms Mooney Ms Pinnington

For any subject-related queries: Head of Faculty: Communications

Mrs Saccheri

Head of Faculty: Specialisms

Mr Rymer

Head of Faculty: Science

Mr de Middelaer

Head of Faculty: Creatives

Miss Boyhan

Head of Faculty: Humanities

Mr Cartledge

Dress code Please note – Students will be sent home to change if they arrive in school dressed inappropriately.

Repeated failure to adhere to the dress code may result in a student risking their place in sixth form.

A plain black, grey or navy blue suit consisting of: Blazer Top This can be any colour/pattern/ style, providing it is not low cut, made of sheer fabric or carrying an offensive slogan/image

Shoes Tights Hair Make-up Jewellery Facial piercings Tattoos Coats and outdoor jackets

Trousers These must be plain office-style trousers (no leggings)

Dress A plain office-style shift dress or pinafore in black, grey or navy blue

Skirt This must be at least knee length (no body-con skirts or mini-skirts)

Must be plain black and flat or low heeled office-style e.g. court shoes, loafers, ballet pump style (not Converse or DMs); sensible school-appropriate black boots are permitted during winter weather These should be worn when wearing a skirt or dress; they must be plain black or nude (cannot be patterned) Students should look presentable and school-appropriate at all times; make-up should be minimal/natural and hair colour should not be overly vibrant Should be minimal; earrings should be stud-style only and please remember school cannot be held liable for the loss of any valuable items.

Invisible retainers should be worn if the piercing is recent; after healing facial jewellery should not be worn at all – students should avoid piercings during term time.

Must be kept covered up.

These must be office-style and in plain black, grey or navy blue.

NB – throughout the dress code we refer to ‘office style’, which can be a little ambiguous!

If you visit www.next.co.uk and look at their ‘Tailored Looks > Workwear’ section this is a good guide!

Equipment You will be provided with a year planner by your form tutor to help you stay organised; All stationery and text books are provided. Girls should be equipped with the following : A pocket dictionary for English Girls should carry this with them for use in all lessons.

A pencil case, including:           

Black/blue handwriting pens (no expensive pens) HB pencils Coloured pencils Ruler Eraser Pencil Sharpener Scissors Pritt stick Geometry set A scientific calculator Highlighters

Please note – if you bring a USB (memory) stick into school you must ensure you have an up to date virus scanner on your home computer/laptop and that you scan the drive regularly.

We recommend that you use the school portal as this gives you direct access to the server and your work – any changes that you make are automatically uploaded to the school server once you save them.

If you don’t have access to the portal from home we recommend that you copy any work that you have on your USB (memory) stick into your ‘home’ folder on the school network regularly – if you lose your USB stick or break it there is unfortunately no way to recover work!

Policies and Guidance We have a full range of policies and guidance available on both the school website and upon request from the school office, including: -

After school care (including Homework Club) Attendance Behaviour Biometrics Data protection E-safety and internet usage EAL Enrichment Homework Medicines Mobile devices More able students (previously known as ‘G&T’) ParentPay Pastoral care Progress monitoring, assessment and reporting Rewards and Sanctions Safeguarding Special Educational Needs Trips and visits Uniform

We are required to draw your attention to our Attendance and Data Protection policies in particular.

Virtual Learning Environment Firefly All students have access to our Virtual Learning Environment – Firefly. Here they can find information, support and guidance about the subjects they are studying as well as a wealth of information ranging from our sixth form experience and revision tips, to relationships and extra-curricular opportunities. In addition to this students can see any tasks that have been set for them to complete.

Parents are also provided with log in details for Firefly. Here you can find your daughter’s profile with her attendance, punctuality, latest grade grid as well as other relevant information.

Internet Access and Emails All students are provided with internet access in school as well as an email address once they have signed the student ICT user agreement.

Attendance Context To maintain the outstanding academic outcomes for every student at BHSA, a highly regular and punctual attendance is vital. Our expectation is that students should attend school every day and strive for a 100% attendance record.

In some extreme cases students may need to unavoidably miss school, therefore we consider a good attendance to be 97% plus. This equates to missing no more than 6 school days a year. Anything lower will be classed as a cause for concern and can have significant effect on a student’s learning and future prospects.

As the term lengths are shorter at BHSA than in other maintained schools, it is even more important to ensure the number of absences is kept to a minimum.

Monitoring Form Tutors monitor attendance on a daily basis, praising students with excellent attendance and punctuality rates. Reward systems for attendance and punctuality are used to encourage students who attend regularly.

Form Tutors will intervene if attendance concerns are raised by consulting with students and/or contacting home. Progress Leaders and Senior Leaders will become involved if attendance rates do not improve following intervention.

BHSA works closely with Wirral LA drawing support from the Educational Welfare Officer, in cases of regular poor attendance.

Unauthorised Absence All schools are required, by the Department for Education, to report the authorised and unauthorised absences for their students’ each year. An absence is deemed unauthorised if either:  

a student has been absent without the permission of the Principal no note of explanation is provided to validate the absence

Only the Academy, within the context of the law, can approve absence – not parents/carers. Absence, other than illness or unforeseen emergency, must be with prior authorisation from the Principal, which should be sought at least three days in advance.

Unauthorised absences are recorded on reports and in public data documents printed by the government as ‘truancy’; this reflects on the reputation of the school as well as on the individual.

Absence from School If a student is absent from school it is their responsibility to catch up all missed work or home learning. If an absence is known in advance, the student must approach individual members of staff for guidance and to collect work.

Pre-Authorised Absence Requests for absence should be submitted to the Principal no later than three days prior to the date of absence. If an absence is authorised by the Principal, parents/carers will be notified. An absence note will not be required on return for pre-authorised absences.

Un-Planned Absence For safeguarding reasons it is the parent’s/carer’s responsibility to telephone the school office on the first day of absence to inform them of a student’s absence and to provide further information if necessary (such as length of absence etc.). On returning to school, a signed note is required to authorise the absence.

Both a phone call and note are required to authorise an absence.

Medical and dental appointments Religious observance Special occasions

Routine visits to the doctor/dentist/optician etc. should be arranged out of school hours or during school holidays.

Authorisation for medical and dental appointments may be given in an emergency or other unavoidable circumstances.

Absence can be authorised on a day exclusively set apart for religious observances by the religious body to which a student’s parents/carers belong.

Exceptional occasions may be sanctioned through authorised absence; attending sports events or concerts are examples of insufficient cause for authorisation.

Family/domestic Looking after other children, minding the house or shopping within problems school hours are not acceptable reasons for absence under the law.

If factors arise at home which may affect a student’s attendance please contact the Form Tutor as soon as possible to ensure support can be put into place.

Bereavement It is helpful if we are informed of family bereavement so that we can offer students support. Absence under such circumstances will of course be authorised.

Holidays The Department for Education changed legislation in relation to family holidays taken in term time from 1st September 2013. Amendments to Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 make clear that Head Teachers may only grant leave of absence in exceptional circumstances.

Sixth form Open days Sixth form students are expected to visit universities and colleges during school holidays. Authorisation will be given for a maximum of two absences to attend open days during term time, if appropriate letters requesting authorisation for absence are brought in.

Interviews Sixth form students must of course attend interviews at universities and colleges on the dates and at the times allocated by the institutions. It is essential that they keep school informed of these dates.

Personal data consent ‘Personal data’ means, for the purposes of the consents sought, photographic or video images of, and/or information relating to, your daughter/ward including her name, age, subjects studied, public examination results, awards achieved, participation in extra-curricular activities and school records.

In order to comply with the Data Protection Act 1988 we seek your and your daughter’s/ward’s consent to the use of personal data relating to your daughter/ward by the School (Birkenhead High School Academy) and/or the Trust (The Girls’ Day School Trust) for the purposes set out below.

1. In material produced by the School or the Trust primarily intended for internal use or display in the School or for circulation amongst any or all of the following – current and former pupils and their parents, guardians and carers, School and Trust employees and staff (e.g. newsletters, school magazine).

2. In material produced by or on behalf of the School or the Trust primarily intended to inform the public (e.g. prospectuses) or for publicity or promotional purposes (e.g. press releases, promotional videos).

3. On the publicly available School and/or Trust websites from time to time, primarily to inform the public, or for publicity/promotional purposes.

Please note: We will only divulge personal data to the extent necessary for the purposes concerned, and will use our discretion sensitively and with due regard for your daughter’s/ward’s privacy.

We will not include the full name (which means first name and surname) of any child together with her image, without good reason. For example, we may include the full name of a competition prize winner if we have their consent. Likewise, if we use images of individual pupils, we will not use the name of that child in the accompanying text or caption without good reason.

We will not disclose (a) ‘sensitive personal data’ as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998, or (b) address, telephone or email details without your and your daughter’s/ward’s explicit consent, unless the disclosure is strictly necessary to protect your daughter’s/ward’s best interests.

ParentPay In an attempt to remove all cash and cheques from school we are asking parents/carers to only use our epayment system to pay for dinner money, trips and all other school activities.

This can be done online via card using a secure website called ParentPay or through local stores using cash, where you see the PayPoint logo (further details will be sent to you separately).

Please visit www.parentpay.com, click ‘Login’ and activate your account using the codes supplied.