HOUSE HANDBOOK
LOWER SCHOOL HANDBOOK, GIRLS AND BOYS, YEARS 7 - 8 2026/2027 INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND GUARDIANS 2
S
CONTENTS 3
Lower School Organisation Beaconfield Boarding House Organisation
4 5
How to contact Westwood Pastoral Care
5
Tutors
6
Westwood House Assistant
6
Westwood Prefects
6
Year 8 Leadership
7
Lower School Pupils’ daily routine
7
Pick-up and drop-off times
7
House routines and arrangements
8
Registration
8
Use of rooms in Westwood
8
Possessions and Mobile Phones
8
Storage of Equipment
8
Lost Property
9
Damage to Property
9
House Events
9
School Routines and Arrangements
10
PE and Games
10
Health and Wellbeing Centre
10
Fire Safety
10
Prep Arrangements
11
Prep diaries and Teams
11
Worries, Concerns and Complaints
11
Merits and Awards
11
Music Practice
11
Westwood Gold Activities Award
11
Food
12
Overnight Stays in Beaconfield and Boarders’ Sleep-overs with Day Pupils
12
Pupil and Parent Handbook
12
Residential Trips
12
IT Systems
13 13
Final Word
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LOWER SCHOOL ORGANISATION
MR S PENTREATH Head of Lower School
MRS N CURTIS Assistant Head of Lower School
MISS M GRIFFITH
YEAR 7 AND YEAR 8 TUTORS
Westwood House Pastoral Assistant
Cleaning & Maintenance Team
Westwood prefects
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BEACONFIELD BOARDING HOUSE ORGANISATION
MR G NEWBOULD Senior Boarding Housemaster with responsibility for all boarders resident in Beaconfield
MRS E MALLET Assistant Houseparent resident in Beaconfield
EVENING DUTY STAFF
NON-RESIDENT WESTWOOD PREFECTS
HOUSEKEEPERS
HOW TO CONTACT WESTWOOD By post:
Westwood House Fonthill Road Lansdown Bath, BA1 5RQ
Y7 and Y8 Boarders: Beaconfield House College Road Bath, BA1 5RT
By telephone:
01225 734486 07561 702825 01225 734291 07436 152347
Mr Pentreath’s and Mrs Curtis’ office Westwood House Mobile Beaconfield House Office Beaconfield House Mobile
By email:
SPentreath@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
Mr S Pentreath, Head of Lower School
NCurtis@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
Mrs N Curtis, Assistant Head of Lower School with specific responsibility for girls’ pastoral care
Westwoodsignout@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
For changes to going home times
For parents, the first point of contact will be your child’s tutor. You will be contacted by your child’s tutor in the first week of term.
PASTORAL CARE A high level of pastoral care is central to all that we do in the Lower School, and this ideal is shared by a wellmotivated, committed and experienced team, who monitor all aspects of our pupils’ life in Westwood. In the Lower School you will meet the following staff.
Mr S Pentreath Head of Lower School
Mrs N Curtis Assistant Head of Lower School
After four years as Head of Lower School and twelve years as housemaster at my previous school in Surrey, I relocated to Kingswood in 2015 with my wife and two children, Ruth and Matthew, who are also at Kingswood. I am very keen on seeing our pupils take part in all that is on offer and am delighted to be able to lead the running of the Lower School which occupies such a special place here at Kingswood. It is the environment within which you as new pupils will grow and thrive during your first two years at Kingswood Senior School and as such has a very unique role in ensuring our pupils are happy, healthy and developing well in all the spheres of our pastoral, academic and co-curricular life. As well as a great appreciation of music and drama I have a love of sport in all its forms as well as the great outdoors and am a passionate supporter of the Springbok rugby team (well someone has to be).
Mrs Curtis joined Kingswood School in 2016 following 12 years working at another independent school in Wiltshire. During this time, she was Head of Lower School (Years 7 -9) for 7 years and the Assistant Director of Sport for 12 years. Mrs Curtis helps to lead and support all pupils, but particularly the girls, in Westwood House. In addition to this she is responsible for our pastoral care programme which is delivered under the Kingswood 4 Life Emerge banner. When not a bouncy and cheerful presence in Westwood, she can be found working wonders in the classroom teaching Academic PE or on the Sports field teaching Girl’s Games.
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TUTORS All tutors meet with their tutees most mornings at 8.25am, either in their tutor areas for registration or in assembly or chapel and keep a close and personal interest in their tutees. Tutors are the first port of call if parents have any concerns. They write short reports, which accompany academic reports and monitor carefully their tutees’ progress, behaviour, attitudes and attendance. Tutors accompany their tutees to assemblies and services whenever possible. Tutors also ensure that their tutees’ activity programme is balanced. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s tutor if you have any questions or concerns at all. They will be sending out an introductory email with their contact details in the first week of term.
WESTWOOD HOUSE PASTORAL ASSISTANT The Westwood House Pastoral Assistant is to be found in Westwood House during the days and helps with the pastoral care and supervision of our pupils and the care of their belongings. They can be contacted by e-mail.
WESTWOOD PREFECTS The Lower School has (in addition to everyone above and the boarding team,) a number of prefects selected from the Lower Sixth who help to ensure everything runs smoothly and who act as role models and buddies for the pupils. Each prefect is allocated to a tutor group and supports the tutor during the week, and on a rota basis, and provides weekend support for the boarders.
LOWER SCHOOL PUPILS’ DAILY ROUTINE DROP-OFF AND PICK-UP TIMES Westwood will be open from 8am in the morning. If you need to drop off a few minutes before this pupils should go to the dining hall and wait there. Westwood closes just before 6pm. Pupils being picked up after this will join with the boarders in Beaconfield.
YEAR 8 LEADERSHIP The Lower School also gives opportunities for leadership to our pupils in Year 8. We ask for volunteers from Y8 to undergo leadership training and form our leadership team for the year. These pupils also help with our Westwood interhouse teams – Mulberry and Phoenix. These Houses are for the purposes of Inter – Westwood Competitions and are not related to Senior Houses. In addition, all of the children in Y7 and 8 have the opportunity to represent their views of the Lower School through school council sessions built into out tutor programme.
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8.00am to 8.15am
Pupils arrive
8.20am
Bell and move off to first event of the day
8.25 to 9.00am
Assembly, chapel or tutor time dep. on the day of the week
9.00am – 10.55am
Periods 1 and 2
10.55am
1st Quarter break up at Westwood
11.20am to 1.15pm
Periods 3 and 4 (on certain days Period 4 is early lunch)
1.15pm to 2.10pm
Period 5 - Lunch & Activities
2.10pm
2nd Quarter break
2.35pm to 4.20pm
Periods 6 and 7
4.20pm
Tea in Westwood
4.30pm to 5.20pm
Activities
5.20pm
Pupils begin to sign out
HOUSE ROUTINES & ARRANGEMENTS REGISTRATION A morning and an afternoon registration each day, except Saturday and Sunday, is a legal requirement. In the morning the registration is to be done as follows: Each pupil usually registers with his/her allocated tutor at 8.25am except on days when we have assembly or chapel in a main venue when registration will be at the start of Period 1. If your child has a doctor’s appointment out of School, then an e-mail giving notice of this should be sent to the tutor. Please also copy in Mr Pentreath and Registration. If your child is off School sick, then parents should contact Mr Pentreath, the Head of Lower School, to let us know. Again please do copy in registration@kingswood.bath.sch.uk. If your child arrives late for School, they must sign in at the Main School Office before joining classes. The School day for day pupils ends at 5.20pm. All day pupils must sign out with the member of Staff on duty that day in Westwood. If for any reason your child has to leave early (between 4.20 – 5.30pm) by prior arrangement, he/she must sign out in Westwood House with the member of staff on duty. If pupils leave the School for an appointment during the day they must sign out and on return in at the Main School Office.
POSSESSIONS AND MOBILE PHONES Please ensure that all your child’s possessions are named and kept in the correct places. This might be their school book locker or school bag. Mobile phones are allowed on site but will not need to be used during the School day, up to 5.15pm. They will be kept locked in your child’s Yondr pouch. The best place for this pouch is safely locked in a pupil’s locker. If a pupil does need to use their phone for any reason they should ask a member of staff first who will be able to help them. The School does not accept responsibility for mobile telephones and they should be insured by parents. Phones being used by Westwood pupils during the working day will be confiscated, parents will be contacted and the phone returned at the end of the day.
USE OF ROOMS IN WESTWOOD Due to the number of pupils in the Lower School the rooms are always busy. We ask that the pupils respect the furniture and equipment in them and look after them as they would their furniture at home. The outdoor table tennis/patio area is always available if the weather is good. Two top quality pool tables are available for use in free time. Pupils should ask the House Staff for equipment.
STORAGE OF EQUIPMENT Each pupil has their own locker for storing books, usually in their tutor area. Games kit should be kept in a single initialled sports bag and stored on the games bag racks on the ground floor. All games equipment must be named. Musical instruments are stored in the music school. There are hooks for coats near the games storage areas. All books and equipment should be stored in the correct places. Anything left outside will be removed.
8
LOST PROPERTY Lost property (if lost in Westwood House) can be found in the lost property box in the downstairs Westwood Cafe. This should be checked first if property goes missing or is mislaid. Anything misplaced around school will hopefully find its way to the lost property room near the entrance to the main library. Please understand that if property is not named it is very difficult to reunite it with its owner. All pupils are discouraged from bringing in valuable items where possible. Please remember that all expensive equipment should be covered by parents’ insurance in case of loss or damage.
DAMAGE TO PROPERTY We hope that all pupils will respect the building and facilities. In the event of something being broken or damaged it should be reported to the member of Staff on duty who will complete a maintenance form detailing the work to be done and, if necessary, naming the child to be charged. If appropriate, a sanction may also be applied.
HOUSE EVENTS The following gives a brief outline of some of the main House events that take place each year:
Autumn Term
Pre-season rugby for boys and hockey for girls – dates are sent out during the summer holiday. Whole School Open Morning for prospective pupils and parents Second Thursday of the Autumn Term at 4.40pm - Year 7 Parents’ tea with tutors up at Westwood. Second Friday of Autumn Term at 4.40pm - Year 8 Parents’ tea with Lower School staff up at Westwood. House Entertainment - Westwood Christmas Disco. Usually in the final week of term. Westwood Carol Service - usually in the last week of term
Spring Term
House Entertainment - usually on the final Monday evening of term
Summer Term
Year 7 Parents’ Cheese and Wine Social Evening Year 8 Parents’ Cheese and Wine Social Evening Westwood Open Mornings for prospective pupils and parents Prospective Year 7 Induction evening for entry September 2027
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SCHOOL ROUTINES & ARRANGEMENTS
PE AND GAMES
HEALTH AND WELLBEING CENTRE
We have a very robust approach to the weather and PE/Games and as such it is really important that pupils have the right kit. Various sports can be done either within the school curriculum or during the activity sessions. Some might even take place early in the morning or in the evening e.g. cricket coaching, hockey and swim training (these early and late sessions are entirely voluntary and in addition to usual training). It is very important that children take care of their equipment and kit and try not to leave their bags in the main school.
If day or boarding children are taken ill during the day they will be taken to the HWC to be looked after. The HWC will then contact home to arrange collection if necessary.
FIRE SAFETY All pupils take part in regular fire drills that take place both during the day and at night. Clear instructions are presented to all Lower School pupils and copies for reference are on the main noticeboard in Westwood.
There are sports fixtures every weekend and sometimes in the mid-week too. All attempts are made to get as many children as possible playing for the School, however, we do select teams on merit. The team sheets are put up in Westwood House and posted on SOCS (an online platform you will receive details for). Along with the school calendar an updated fixture list is in the school newsletter with relevant phone numbers in case of emergencies. As we are a Senior School we do not hand out individual slips of paper, it is your child’s responsibility to remember where and when the fixtures are taking place. Please contact the PE staff if there are any problems with availability or general queries.
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PREP ARRANGEMENTS
MERITS AND AWARDS
Prep is an important part of the day. Pupils are expected to do roughly an hour and 15 minutes of prep each day and this could be done during the lunch break, after lessons end at 4.30pm (activities permitting) or in the evenings. All pupils are expected to do their prep accurately and neatly and to hand it in on time. Day pupils may stay for supper and prep by arrangement and should usually be collected at 7.30pm. There is a charge for this. Bookings are to be made via SCOPAY and paid in advance. Bookings must be made with 24 hours’ notice.
We have a system of rewarding good academic work which is based around merits that your different subject teachers will give out. The various departments will explain how to go about earning these. If you accumulate 100 merits you will receive a reward.
MUSIC PRACTICE AND LAMDA LESSONS Individual music tuition will take place in the Music Centre and LAMDA lessons will take place in the LAMDA room on the allocated days. These lessons may or may not be scheduled during class time. If any class time is missed due to a lesson please make sure you find out what work you have missed and complete it. There is also a room in Westwood that pupils may use for music. The music and LAMDA lessons are scheduled through the Involve online Platform.
PREP DIARIES AND TEAMS All preps will be entered by teachers onto Teams assignments. Within the first few days pupils will be given log-in details and shown how to use Teams which will allow them to access all their prep tasks from any computer, tablet, smart phone or laptop. In the first term of Year 7 we also give out small prep diaries for those who are not yet comfortable with Teams to use while they find their feet. Parents can use the pupils’ logins to keep an eye on their preps.
WESTWOOD GOLD ACTIVITIES AWARD We have an overarching award which encourages our pupils to firstly, get involved in as much on offer as possible and secondly, aim for as broad an activity experience as possible. The seven areas to complete are: community service, academic physical and creative extension, public speaking/ performance, collaborative efforts and outdoor pursuits. Pupils should be able to complete the award in a year and when they have achieved it they will receive a Westwood Gold blazer badge and can be known as a ‘Westwood Gold’.
WORRIES, CONCERNS AND COMPLAINTS Issues can be raised through the School Council as well as through Staff and Tutors. Experience has shown us that there are relatively few problems that cannot be fixed but the earlier we know about any potential issues the better.
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FOOD Kingswood provides daily, balanced lunches for all pupils. Meals are eaten in the School Dining Hall. The weekly menu’s do go home in the weekly Headmaster’s newsletter and there is a wide range of options to suit all tastes. All day pupils are expected to attend lunch. If pupils would like to bring in a snack for quarter that is a good idea. Please be mindful of nut allergies and so avoid nut-containing snacks. Please do make every effort to send in healthy snacks.
RESIDENTIAL TRIPS There are a selection of residential trips that are available to different year groups as one moves through Kingswood Senior School. You will receive information about these from Mr Davies, our Deputy Head Co-curricular, in due course. From a financial planning perspective there are no compulsory residential trips in Year 7 or Year 8.
KINGSWOOD PUPIL AND PARENT HANDBOOK All new parents should receive a copy of the Kingwood Pupil and Parent Handbook, which contains essential information on all aspects of School organisation, rules, dress codes, etc. If you have not received a copy by the end of the Summer holidays please contact the Admissions Department on 01225 734210 to have one sent to you. A number of other booklets are issued to parents in the course of their child’s time at the School (e.g. curriculum booklets for Years 7 to 9, GCSE (Years 10- 11), and ‘A’ level (Years 12-13 traditionally known as ‘the Sixth Form’).
OVERNIGHT STAYS IN BEACONFIELD AND BOARDERS’ SLEEPOVERS WITH DAY PUPILS As we are a boarding school it is possible as a day pupil to be booked in for occasional boarding sleep overs or more regular flexi-style boarding. This might be something to explore if parents are going away for a few days or have a regular weekly commitment that keeps pupils late at school. To enquire about availability and cost your parents should contact Mr Newbould, the Housemaster of Beaconfield House. It is also great when day pupils can invite Westwood boarders to parties and sleepovers at the weekends. Westwood staff are eager to help facilitate this. If you would like to invite a boarder out please email Mr Newbould (gnewbould@kingswood.bath.sch.uk) with details of the proposal so that consent can then be sought from the boarder’s parents/guardians.
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IT SYSTEMS Kingswood has a variety of IT systems which are used to keep parents and pupils up to date with school work and activities. An overview is below. The systems will be explained in more detail at the beginning of term.
Platform
What?
Where?
Login
Access to timetables, documents, reports and rewards/destinations
Link
Email address and Password
Access to visiting music teacher and LAMDA lessons schedule
Email invitation sent by the School
MS Teams
Prep and class information
Link
Pupil Email and Password
One Drive
Document sharing
Link
Pupil Email and Password
Updates on sporting fixtures and Co-curricular activities
Link
None, but team sheets require KWSSPORT23
Parents’ Evenings
Link
Parent Portal Login
Supper, Prep & Temporary Boarding bookings & payments; Trip payments
Link
Email address and Password
ISAMS Parent Portal
Involve
SOCS
School Cloud
SCOPAY
Parent: personal Email address and Password Student: school Email address and Password
FINAL WORD house staff understand these perfectly normal feelings and are handpicked for their ability to help your child as they start their journey at Kingswood within the caring environment of the Lower School and Westwood House. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, concerns or observations about anything at all up to and including the state of British Sport.
Moving to Senior School is a very exciting time both for your child and for yourselves as parents. Kingswood is considerably larger than most prep or primary schools but experience has shown us that your child will soon feel as if they have always been here. Your child will have to take in a vast amount of information over their first few days and weeks. Please be prepared for a wide range of emotions including great excitement, nervous anticipation, possible confusion, great feelings of accomplishment, pride, happiness and the occasional time when things might seem a little overwhelming. Our tutors, prefects, teachers and
Steve Pentreath Head of Lower School SPentreath@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
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Lansdown Road, Bath BA1 5RG T. 01225 734210 | E. admissions@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
www.kingswood.bath.sch.uk