Welcome to CHS South, our 11-16 nine-form entry, mixed, comprehensive school opened in conjunction with Chorlton High School in September 2018. Our school provides 240 places in each Year Group, creating a full capacity of 1200. In February 2023 we were graded ‘Good’ by Ofsted in our first full inspection and have gone on to secure competitive results exceeding national expectations.
I am immensely proud to be entrusted with the role of Headteacher at CHS South. To be able to extend the fantastic provision on offer at Chorlton High School to more young people in our community is one I embrace whole-heartedly. From the very beginning of the process to build and open this school, the community have played a significant part in helping to shape and steer our journey. As a member of the local community myself, I am very proud to say that CHS South is a rich & diverse environment, within which our young people and their families can see themselves reflected, supporting everyone to build a sense of belonging.
Having worked as a member of the Senior Leadership Team at Chorlton High School for 14 years, I passionately believe in our shared ethos of providing an education that allows young people to become creative, happy and successful. CHS South allows more young people in our community to access an education that not only allows them to achieve academic excellence but also acquire the skills necessary to successfully apply their abilities and navigate their way in an ever-changing landscape.
We also ensure the young people at CHS South have access to a broad and forward-thinking enrichment curriculum. We are well positioned to offer a diverse and engaging sports curriculum through our fantastic relationships with the vast array of sports providers in our community. Furthermore, our expertise and understanding of the creative arts, an industry growing faster in our local community than anywhere in the UK outside London, will ensure our young people are provided with the opportunities to develop and hone their skills in order to become the next generation of creative trailblazers.
Mr David Prophet Headteacher
At CHS South we are dedicated to empowering all our learners to become:
8:00am - 8:20am 2:50pm - 4:00pm
Period 1
8:30am - 9:00am 9:00am - 10:00am 10:00am - 11:20am 11:20am - 12:20pm 12:20pm - 1:50pm 1:50pm - 2:50pm Breakfast
Period 2 (including 20-minute break)
Period 3
Period 4 (including 30-minute lunch)
Period 5
Extra-Curricular Activities Form Time
Starting secondary school is an exciting milestone, but it can also feel overwhelming for both children and their parents/carers. Common concerns your child might have include:
• How will they find their way around?
• Will they make friends?
• What should they bring?
• How will they manage the school routine?
This guide provides practical advice and reassurance to help you and your child feel prepared and confident for this new chapter.
Travel and Morning Routine:
• Practice the Route: Walk or take public transport to school with your child over the summer to ensure they know the journey.
• Set Morning Routines: Agree on wake-up and departure times. Aim for your child to arrive at school by 8:20am.
• Use an Alarm Clock: Teach your child how to set and use it to encourage independence.
• Plan Ahead: Decide together when they’ll pack their school bag and, if needed, who will prepare their packed lunch.
What to Pack:
A school bag with:
• Pencil case (containing pen, pencil, ruler, rubber).
• Reusable water bottle.
Optional extras to enhance learning:
• Calculator, highlighters, coloured pencils, glue stick, geometry equipment.
Your child’s first day will be carefully planned to ensure they feel supported and welcomed. They will:
• Attend a welcome assembly introducing them to school life.
• Take part in a guided tour to help them navigate the building.
• Spend time with their Form Tutor and classmates, building connections.
• Join introductory lessons based on the school’s transition text to ease them into learning.
The Transition Team and staff will be on hand throughout the day to address any worries and help your child settle in.
In your child’s first week they will be introduced to the CHS South Qualities of Success. These are the essential qualities and skills that we intend every CHS South student to develop their understanding of as they progress with us. We believe that if our students can embody these qualities they will be creative, happy & successful both now and in the future. Students will develop their understanding of the skills across all aspects of their learning at CHS South.
If your child has any concerns during the first days or weeks, reassure them that there is always someone to help. Encourage them to speak with their:
• Form Tutor - their primary contact for support and guidance.
• Year 7 Team
• Transition Team
• Safeguarding Team
• Any other member of CHS South staff, all of whom are trained to assist students.
We encourage students to:
• Stay focused and work hard during lessons.
• Use social spaces respectfully during breaksplaying outdoors or sitting in the dining areas.
• Arrive on time and wear the correct uniform.
Discuss these expectations with your child in advance to help them feel prepared and confident.
More information can be found on pages 16-21.
CHS South offers a rich programme of free extracurricular activities starting from 2:50pm each day, designed to help students explore new interests, develop skills, and build friendships outside the classroom.
The full schedule is updated every half term and can be accessed on our school website or on the ExtraCurricular noticeboard in school. Activities range from sports and creative arts to academic support and special interest clubs, ensuring there’s something for everyone.
Most clubs are drop-in, but some have limited spaces and require sign-up in advance. Encourage your child to try different activities, broaden their horizons, and enjoy these opportunities.
Parents/Carers must ensure they have planned for their child’s journey home after clubs.
• Discuss their school day and encourage them to share any concerns.
• Help them establish a homework routine early.
• Review the online home learning plan on Sharepoint (accessible via our website) together to track key dates and assignments.
By working together, we can ensure your child feels supported and ready to embrace all the opportunities secondary school offers.
CHS South recognises that Home Learning is a key factor in supporting the 5-year learning journey for our students. Excellent learning habits, including organisation, motivation, responsibility, resilience, and self-discipline (key aspects of our Qualities of Success) enable students to be independent learners equipped for success in all they do.
Home learning enables students:
Home learning is work that is set to be done outside the timetabled curriculum. It enhances student learning, improves achievement and develops students’ study skills and as such is an integral part of the curriculum.
• To take ownership and responsibility for learning.
• To consolidate and extend work covered in class or prepare for new learning activities.
• To show progress and understanding.
• To develop research skills.
• To have an opportunity for independent work to extend their learning further.
• To enhance their study skills e.g. planning, time management and selfdiscipline.
• To access resources not available in the classroom.
• To share their learning with their parents and carers.
At CHS South there are three key parts to ‘homework’:
• Home Learning
• Home Study
• Home Reading
Home Learning: CHS South has a blended approach to home learning with some tasks set on an online platform and other through a hard paper copy.
Home Study: Preparation for tests and reflection and gap filling after tests. In the build up to our Progress Tests, Home Learning becomes Home Study which is independent enquiry. This takes place during the Spring and Summer terms.
Home Reading: We encourage our students to devote time to Home Reading as this will give students a wider knowledge base and understanding of the world. We expect all of our students to read at least three times a week at home, however we would like to encourage them to read daily.
Students receive a Microsoft Office 365 login, allowing access to apps like TEAMS for Home Learning. Teachers use TEAMS to share resources, assign tasks, and give feedback. Logins are issued in the first week, and parents can request them from the school office. Visit our website’s Home Learning page for more details.
At CHS South we pride ourselves on providing a varied, personalised and challenging curriculum for all of our students.
Students study a broad and balanced curriculum designed to challenge and inspire. Content covered includes:
Core Curriculum: English, Maths, and Science studied throughout all years.
Additional Subjects: Computing, Design & Technology, Modern Foreign Languages, Humanities (Geography, History, Religious Studies), Performing & Visual Arts (Art, Drama, Dance, Music) and Physical Education.
Milestones:
Year 7: Begin chosen Modern Foreign Language (Spring Term).
Year 8: Select an Arts Elective for focused study.
Year 9: Start the GCSE Options process for deeper exploration of chosen subjects at Key Stage 4.
More details around Curriculum Content are available on our website (Scan the QR code below).
At CHS South we endeavour to ensure that our students make the most progress possible. To do this successfully we have to have an assessment system that is easy to understand, clearly demonstrates progress and is suitably robust and relevant.
Students in Year 7 will have two assessment points throughout the year where students will sit Progress Tests in each subject they study. Following this they will receive a raw score from their class teacher and feedback on their performance in the exam. This enables students to identify their strengths and focus on the areas of learning that will move them forward. These statements will be based on their performance in the progress test compared with other learners in their Year Group with similar KS2 starting points.
In our report, we provide a comprehensive overview of each student’s progress. This includes their progress statement, which reflects their development based on assessments, their level of classroom effort, and their raw score from progress tests. In addition, we report on key pastoral statistics, such as attendance and behaviour, to give a well-rounded picture of each student’s engagement and overall experience at CHS South.
Progress statements are measured using a five-level scale, which reflects a student’s development based on their assessments and learning progress.
Effort is scored on a scale from Level 1 to Level 4, reflecting a student’s commitment to their learning.
More detailed information on Assessments & Reporting can be found on our website.
We are very proud of our uniform at CHS South. It identifies students as part of our CHS South community. It also helps our pupils to feel equal and valued. Our uniform is gender neutral.
We want our students to represent the school, their families and themselves with pride. We ask that our high standards of uniform are always visible, including on the journey to and from school. This means that we expect pupils to arrive to and leave school wearing full and smart uniform. Wearing school uniform helps students to develop a positive mind set for learning and supports them in being creative, happy, and successful.
• School blazer with embroidered logo - to be worn throughout the school day, including on arrival and departure.
• School tie - to be worn up to the top button and tied correctly. Five stripes should be shown.
• White button neck shirt/blouse - should be always tucked into trousers/skirt.
• Black, traditional school trousers - full length.
• Black skirts that are branded with small version of the school logo, or a plain black, loose-fitting ankle-length skirt worn for moderation.
• Plain black or grey socks or plain black or grey tights.
• Plain black school shoes or all black trainers (e.g., Nike Air Force or Adidas Stan Smith) below the ankle.
• Black sports shirt with embroidered logo.
• Loose fitting black sports shorts.
• Sports socks.
• Sports trainers with non-marking soles.
During the school year we will continue to ask pupils to come to school on PE days wearing their PE kit with their blazer on top.
Students are expected to take responsibility for their books and equipment. They must have a school bag that is suitable to carry their books (A4 size), writing equipment and sports kit.
The school bag should also include a pocket which is suitable to carry a mobile phone (turned off) during the day.
Handbags and over the shoulder bags are not allowed.
• A headscarf worn for religious reasons must be plain black, grey or white, with no decorations or tassels. Hair bands should be plain black.
• Chinos, jeans or ‘jean like’ trousers, leggings and jeggings are not allowed.
• Trainers or sports/casual shoes with logos or coloured sections are not allowed. Footwear that rises above the ankle is not allowed.
• Hats are not allowed, anywhere inside the building. We ask that caps are not worn, including on the journey to or from school.
• In cold and wet weather a coat should be worn above the blazer. Coats are not to be worn inside our building.
• Hooded tops, zipped tops, sports tops and non-uniform jumpers are not allowed. We ask that hooded tops are not worn in place of a coat.
• We like badges but students should wear no more than three personal badges on their blazer.
Jewellery
• Small stud earrings only. Large, hooped or dangling earrings must not be worn for health and safety reasons.
• Face, tongue or body piercings should not be worn.
Make Up and Nails
• Make up should be natural in appearance.
• False/acrylic nails and false eyelashes are prohibited.
Our supplier of branded uniform items for the forthcoming academic year is:
Monkhouse Schoolwear Specialists
The Old Post Office, 10 King Street, Stretford, Manchester, M32 8AE
www.monkhouse.com 0161 865 3142
Please contact us directly if you need support to provide your child with these items.
Uniform items that do not carry the CHS South logo can be bought from large supermarkets. Please be aware that some items that are sold on supermarket school uniform aisles do not meet our expectations for uniform. For example, ‘skinny cut’ or ‘jean like’ trousers. Please check the additional guidance to make sure that what you buy will be suitable for school.
The Arbor App brings the full functionality of our desktop Parent Portal directly to your phone. With it, you can:
• View attendance statistics and behaviour points.
• Receive notifications about important updates and conversations.
• Update your child’s personal information quickly and easily.
The Arbor App is available on both Android (Google Play) and iOS (App Store) devices.
For Android Users:
• Download the app from the Google Play Store.
• Enable push notifications by going to Settings > Apps > Arbor > Notifications For iOS Users:
• Download the app from the App Store.
• You will be prompted to allow push notifications during setup; please select ‘Allow’.
Why Enable Push Notifications?
Push notifications ensure you’re alerted to new messages in the app, helping you stay informed about important updates. Without them, you may miss crucial information.
Important: You will only see your child’s information once they are officially enrolled.
1. Enter the email address registered with the school.
2. Select CHS South as your school.
3. Read and confirm Arbor’s terms and conditions.
4. For security, confirm your child’s date of birth:
• If you have multiple children, enter the eldest child’s date of birth.
5. Once logged in, you can switch between profiles for multiple children.
If you’re experiencing difficulties accessing the Arbor App, please check the following:
• Email Address: Ensure your login email matches the address registered with CHS South.
• Date of Birth: For first-time logins, enter the eldest child’s date of birth if you have more than one child.
• Guardian Access: Only primary guardians can access the app.
• Device Compatibility: The app may not work on tablet devices. Use the browser version on your tablet instead.
• Need Help?
If you’re still unable to access the app, please contact the school at admin@chssouth.org.uk
Note: Do not contact Arbor directly, as we manage all account-related issues at the school level.
We provide a wide range of different options through our school catering service. The aim is to give students wide variety of choice and to cater for different dietary needs.
If you want to get the best value for money in the Dining Hall, we offer the follow initiatives to help:
• Meal Deal costing £2.80 served on our hot meal counter, which includes the hot meal of the day, and two sides/ extras
• Free fruit
• Water fountains (students will need to provide a reusable water bottle)
Don’t forget that by accessing Arbor you can see what your child has bought to eat and drink each day and monitor their spending habits.
Our menus are updated termly and can be found on our website. These are also available for students to look at in our Dining Room.
Is your child eligible for a free school meal?
Please see information below that will help determine if your child is eligible for a free school meal at CHS South. If your child qualifies and their school is in Manchester, you can apply using the free meals portal: https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/sims
If your child is coming to us from Year 6 and has been entitled to Free School Meals, parents/carers will still need to apply.
The school will be notified when an application for a free school meal has been approved or declined. If the claim is approved the child will receive free school meals on an ongoing basis whilst the parent(s)/carer(s) remain eligible.
Which children qualify for Free School Meals?
Your child must live with you and be your responsibility You can also claim free school meals if you are an asylum seeker
Your child may qualify if you have any of these incomes:
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• The guaranteed part of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (as long as your annual gross income is £16,190 or less and you don’t get Working Tax Credit)
• Working Tax Credit run-off after you come off Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit that you applied for on, or after, 1 April 2018. As long as your household income is less than £7,400 a year after tax, not including any benefits
To find out more information, please contact:
The Benefits Service PO Box 3
Manchester M15 5BA
Telephone: 0161 234 5003
Email: benefit.enquiries@manchester.gov.uk
If your child is not in school, learning is not taking place. If your child is absent, we ask you to telephone the attendance line before 8:30 am on every day of absence or use the school’s app to send a message.
At CHS South, we have a dedicated Attendance Team to ensure that poor attendance is not allowed to develop. We want all students to strive for 100% attendance, however, understand that there is unavoidably a need for a day off mainly for illness. All students have the target of 98%+ attendance, which equates to no more than 3 days off in a year. We are proud of our consistently improving attendance and attendance which is above local averages. We are pleased with our achievement in this area but are committed to improving attendance levels even further. CHS South follows Manchester’s Local Authority Attendance Strategy in order to reduce absence. CHS South attendance policy is available on the school website.
If there is something we need to know regarding your child’s health which may impact on their attendance, please speak to the attendance team. We ask you to make every attempt to book non-urgent medical appointments after school or during the school holidays. Students with unavoidable medical and dental appointments during the school day are asked to bring in the appointment card in order to sign out of school at the appropriate time. If you have concerns about your child’s attendance, you can contact the Attendance Team or your child’s Form Tutor.
If we are concerned about a child’s attendance the following steps may be taken:
We shall write to you if we are concerned about frequent and/or irregular patterns of absence. This is to alert you to the fact that your child’s attendance is becoming a concern and to encourage school and parents to work together to see improvements. Please ensure that you are providing medical evidence when appropriate.
Attendance and Safeguarding staff will regularly undertake home visits to support our students and families. These visits can be at any point during an absence and are often unannounced. We appreciate your co-operation in reporting absences via our school’s procedure (above) and your understanding that home visits support our safeguarding procedures.
We may offer to support your child’s attendance by putting an EHA into place, this allows us to draw in multi-agency support to help support your child.
Please note that Manchester City Council will issue a fine (known as a fixedpenalty notice) if you take an unauthorised holiday in term time or have met the national threshold of 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. If issued with one, you will need to pay this directly to the local authority – £80 per parent per child within 21 days, or £160 within 28 days. Failure to pay a Penalty Notice may result in a prosecution.
We urge all parents to please arrange holidays to take place in school holidays. There are 177 non-term days available for personal commitments.
The Department for Education regulations state that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.
If exceptional circumstances arise you must take the following steps:
• Apply in writing as soon as possible to the Headteacher or member of the Attendance team, stating the reason for absence and the duration of leave requested.
• The Headteacher or member of the Attendance team will respond in writing to your request.
• This must be done in advance of the leave of absence.
• If the leave of absence is denied and you take your child/children out of school, the absence will be unauthorised. This may result in the following legal action being taken against you - under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 an authorised officer of the City Council has the power to issue each parent/carer with a Fixed-Penalty Notice for each of their children who fail to attend school regularly.
• Fixed-Penalty Notices issued for unauthorised absences on or after 19th August 2024 incur a fine of £160 to be paid within 28 days, which is reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days of the notice being served. Failure to pay a Penalty Notice may result in a prosecution.
Please note, we will only ever authorise 1 day’s absence for religious observance during term time.
What happens when students are late?
• Students sign in at Student Services or with Attendance staff, they are given a behaviour point and may be given a detention by their Pastoral Leader/Head of Year.
• Persistent lateness will be followed up by the Pastoral staff and the Attendance Team.
• Students may also be invited to attend a Punctuality Panel.
For repeated late arrivals parents could receive a Penalty Warning Letter or a Penalty Notice from the Local Authority. Please contact the attendance team if you have concerns.
WHY IS GOOD PUNCTUALITY SO IMPORTANT?
Arriving to school on time and attending as much as possible are essential steps to success. If late, valuable learning time is lost and this can quickly add up. Students will need to make up time that they are late. We encourage all students to be responsible for their punctuality and will closely monitor and intervene if necessary.
At CHS South we have set school rules which every student is expected to follow:
These clear and simple rules reflect our expectations of how our student conduct themselves throughout the school day and in the local community.
Examples of how CHS South students can be Ready, Respectful and Safe include:
To help all students to have excellent conduct and effort we follow a simple system of rewards and consequence. We expect that each day, students will receive a number of reward points for working hard and being Ready, Respectful and Safe. Rewards point are communicated to families using Arbor.
We hope that warnings and final warnings are issued rarely. A Conversation is a serious consequence which will be communicated to families using Arbor. In addition, a teacher or member of staff will call you to discuss the reason a Conversation was issued to your child.
This is a key document and outlines the key commitments that we expect from yourselves as parents, from your child as a student of the school, and our community as a school to you both.
The document forms the basis of our expectations for all students and it is likely that you will be contacted by the school should your child regularly show behaviours that are not aligned with our Home School Agreement.
Please therefore discuss the Home School Agreement with your child in the period leading up to them joining our school. We encourage you to explore the statements further with your child and discuss how they can ensure that they adhere to the principles in the Agreement. If you have any questions regarding the agreement, please contact your child’s Head of Year in the first instance.
• Ensure that my child attends school every day, on time, in full school uniform and with the correct equipment.
• Inform the school on the first day, before 8:30am, of any absence through illness or other reason.
• Make the school aware of any concerns or problems that might affect my child’s work or behaviour.
• Support the school’s policies on attendance behaviour, homework, and uniform.
• Praise success at school, and support the school if sanctions are necessary.
• Encourage and support my child with learning opportunities both in and out of school.
• Ask questions that allow my child to share their learning and offer opportunities to build upon this learning at home.
• Attend Parents’ Evenings and any meetings about my child’s progress and respond where I can to communication from the school, entering in to a productive dialogue with the school about strategies to support my child’s progress.
• Get to know about my child’s life at school and what the school expects of my child.
• Embrace and promote the school’s ‘Qualities of Success’ of optimism, empathy, motivation, creativity, curiosity, responsibility, resiliency, reflection and practice.
• Care for your child’s safety, happiness and welfare.
• Ensure that your child achieves their full potential as a valued member of the school community.
• Provide a broad and balanced curriculum and learning experience that challenges, motivates and meets the individual needs of your child.
• Achieve high standards of work and behaviour, building up good relationships and fostering a good sense of personal responsibility,
• Ensure that your child attains the highest possible results in all assessments and examinations.
• Keep you and your child informed of their progress and other school matters.
• Be open and welcoming at all times.
• Offer opportunities for you to voice your concerns and support the daily life of the school.
• Embrace and promote the school’s ‘Qualities of Success’ of optimism, empathy, motivation, creativity, curiosity, responsibility, resiliency, reflection and practice.
• Care for your child’s safety, happiness and welfare.
• Ensure that your child achieves their full potential as a valued member of the school community.
• Provide a broad and balanced curriculum and learning experience that challenges, motivates and meets the individual needs of your child.
• Achieve high standards of work and behaviour, building up good relationships and fostering a good sense of personal responsibility,
• Ensure that your child attains the highest possible results in all assessments and examinations.
• Keep you and your child informed of their progress and other school matters.
• Be open and welcoming at all times.
• Offer opportunities for you to voice your concerns and support the daily life of the school.
• Embrace and promote the school’s ‘Qualities of Success’ of optimism, empathy, motivation, creativity, curiosity, responsibility, resiliency, reflection and practice.
• To resolve problems in a friendly, supportive manner.
• To work together in harmony.
• To ensure our children reach their full potential.
Please read the below acceptable use policy and in particular note that access to, and use of, school digital resources is for educational purposes only. We also request that as parents you report to the school immediately any potential misuse of the system to the school.
Your child will be asked to confirm that they have read and agree to this policy the first time that they log onto our computer systems in school at the start of each academic year (please see declaration at the end of this policy). Please therefore discuss this policy with your child in the period leading up to them joining our school.
We encourage you to explore the statements further with your child and discuss how they can ensure that they adhere to the principles in policy.
