Millais Parent Handbook A-Z

Millais Parents & Carers

Welcome

We are delighted to welcome you, as parents and carers, to our Millais community. Our school/parent/ carer partnership is crucial in ensuring your child has a really successful educaton. We want this partnership to be strong, based on good communicaton a nd teamwork, and with the clear aim of ensuring your child achieves their full potental while at our school.

It is a great privilege to be the headteacher at Millais and work daily with amazing students and staf. Over the last few years, it has meant steering and leading the school through the most challenging of tmes and keeping us on course with our aspiratons and goals. Ultmately, my aim is to ensure that we remain dynamic in our educatonal developments and ensure that students leave us at the end of 5 years with a frst class 21st century educaton which enables each and every one to move on confdently t o the next step of their educaton and their lives.

Dr Alison Lodwick, Headteacher

“Children

show a preference for some kind of undisrupted routine or rhythm. They seem to want a predictable, lawful, orderly world. For instance, injustice, unfairness, or inconsistency seems to make a child feel anxious and unsafe. This attitude may be not so much because of the injustice per se, or any particular pains involved, but rather because this treatment threatens to make the world look unreliable, or unsafe, or unpredictable.”

Abraham Maslow

This Parent A-Z is reviewed annually before the start of the new school year. Every efort is made to ensure that it is accurate and up to date; during the course of the year, however, it is inevitable that certain things will change in response to events and feedback. The academy will always make every efort to communicate signifcant changes, but inevitably, there are things which are missed. The most up -to-date policies and informaton will be available on the school website – www.millais.org.uk

About Us

Millais School is a large, single-sex girls comprehensive for 11 -16 with more than 1,200 students on roll. The students are at the heart of everything that we do, and we contnually strive to support students to achieve their full potental, whatever their ability. There is a warm, calm and caring atmosphere within our community which also encompasses an underlying creatve vibe throughout the classrooms and corridors of the campus. The students are well-motvated and have a positve, ‘can do’ attude to their learning and they enjoy coming to school. The Millais moto ‘in pursuit of excellence’ encourages students and staf to set high expectatons and aspiratons, whilst always str iving to be the best version of themselves that they can be. The whole community takes pride in upholding the highest standards of achievement, behaviour and personal ambiton which is underpinned by our strong core values

Our School

Here at Millais, we pride ourselves in providing all our students with excellent creative teaching and learning opportunities within the curriculum and through our programme of extra -curricular activities. We want all of our students to do exceptionally well academically, enjoy their secondary education and to grow personally and socially as active citizens in our community.

Our Success

Millais continues to be one of the top -performing local state schools in West Sussex and has gained national recognition for consistently high standards of achievement with an excellent quality of provision. Our curriculum is well planned, innovative, broa d and balanced with an exciting range of enrichment and extra- curricular opportunities on offer both within and outside the school. Our latest exam results can be found on our website

“Inclusivity, fairness and respect for pupils’ individual differences are at the heart of relationships in this school. Pupils understand that staff are there for them if they need support. “

OFSTED 2023

Ambition

We expect the best, academically, of and for every student. We set students ambitious targets and pitch classwork and homework accordingly.

Students are set targets in all subjects at the beginning of Year 7, using their Key Stage 2 results. During the academic year, teachers will complete progress checks for each student. These checks will show a student’s current attainment, their target levels and include comments on behaviour, classwork and effort. See Grading Systems for more information.

Attendance

Excellent atendance is essental if students are going to achieve their full potental. Parents and carers play the most signifcant role in ensuring that atendance and punctuality are good.

The school asks parents and carers to:

• Ensure your child arrives promptly to school every day by 8.20am.

• Inform the school on the frst day of absence by 8.30am using the StudyBug App.

• Arrange medical and other appointments outside of school hours.

• Send a note or doctor’s appointment card to recepton detailing the reason for lateness/absence if appointment during school hours is unavoidable. Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 must be collected by a parent/carer for an appointment during school hours or if feeling unwell.

• In a case of absence period lastng longer than 3 days, provide medical evidence to support absence.

• Students with habitually poor atendance are referred to West Sussex Local Authority.

The school follows the local authority policy of zero tolerance to holidays in term tme. Time of during term tme can be requested but will only be granted in exceptonal circumstances.

Term Dates

Are available on the website and updated each Autumn for the follo wing academic year. Term dates are set by West Sussex.

Arrive on tme! Timings of the school day…

08:10 Doors open to students

08:15 Move to Form Rooms

08:30 Registraton / Assembly

08:45 Period 1

09:35 Move to Period 2

09:40 Period 2

10:30 Morning Break

10:45 Move to Period 3

10:50 Period 3

11:40 Move to Period 4

11:45 Period 4

12:35 Lunch Break

13:10 Move to Period 5

13:15 Period 5 (pm registraton)

14:05 Move to Period 6

14:10 Period 6

15:00 End of Day

Anti-Bullying

We are a Recognised United Against Bullying School

Our ant- bullying approach...

What is Bullying? At Millais School we have adopted the defniton of bullying from the Ant -bullying Alliance:

The repettve, intentonal hurtng of one person or group by another person or group, where the relatonship involves an imbalance of power. Bullying can be physical, verbal or psychological. It can happen face-to-face or through cyberspace.

Although bullying can happen between individuals it ofen takes place in the presence (virtually or physically) of others who become the Bystanders or Outsiders.

Our complete Ant Bullying Policy is available on our website.

Responding to bullying

It is possible for you to report bullying incidents confdentally via our Report It! Online Form which is available through each Year Group Team. The link is also available through the student desktop. Paper copies are available from the Director of Year ofces and in the LRC. The school will ofer a proactve, sympathetc and supportve response to children who are the victms of bullying. The exact nature of the response will be determined by the part cular child's individual needs and will be discussed in detail throughout the investgaton.

Preventng bullying

As part of our ongoing commitment to the safety and welfare of our students we have developed the following strategies to promote positve behaviour and discourage bullying behaviour.

• Ensuring that the school actvely promotes the celebraton of diference and diversity.

• Assemblies will be used to inform every one of the school's zero-tolerance approach to bullying and the actons that will be taken to prevent bullying taking place.

• Assembly tme will also be used to challenge the noton that there can be innocent, neutral bystanders with regards to the issue of bullying.

• Ant-Bullying Week in November and Safer Internet Day in February will be used as an opportunity to raise the profle of this issue.

• At classroom level – especially through PD and Citzenship the focus will be on developing strong ant-bullying messages and encouraging the building of friendships.

• Millais School recognises that there are partcular tmes / locatons when students may be more vulnerable to bullying – e.g., lunch and break tmes and the beginning and end of the school day. Arrangements will be made to ensure that at such tmes there is adequate supervision available to reduce the risk of bullying incidents.

• Students will have the opportunity to contribute to the school’s Ant -Bullying Policy through our AB Ambassador programme and student voice.

• Ant-bullying Student Leaders will be available for those students requiring extra support and be encouraged to organise ant -bullying campaigns in school and discourage the “bystander culture”.

• Restoratve Justce will be encouraged so that everyone can move on from a situaton having learnt about how to be the best version of themselves.

Behaviour for Learning

Celebratng and rewarding successes

All students can earn positve community points as well as termly awards for academic achievement, outstanding classwork or homework, excellent efort, atendance at extra-curricular clubs, performances, sportng representaton, and contributons to the school community. Achievements are celebrated in assemblies and communicated home via MCAS, praise postcards, and our Director of Year Celebraton and Leters of Recogniton.

Our Principles :

The School has a clear Code of Conduct which allows all students and staf to work in a safe and secure environment, make good progress, and fulfl every aspect of their work. Everyone should be reminded of and encouraged to follow the Code of Conduct.

We are commited to encouraging and rewarding good behaviour but recognise that young people sometmes make poor choices. Wherever possible we want to give students every opportunity to refect and make a beter choice.

Parents play a pivotal role in supportng the school and their child. We will look to work in partnership whenever possible.

Sanctons should be issued as a last resort but will be used if a student fails to respond to previous opportunites or a single acton warrants a response that sends a clear message to that student and the wider school community.

Responding to poor choices of behaviour

Behaviour in Lessons

We expect students to come equipped for lessons, to not be chewing gum, to respect the teacher and not disrupt the learning of others.

Response - Students will initally receive a warning, afer three warnings they will be removed from the lesson to work in an alternatve classroom , failure to follow instructons will result in further acton and can lead to suspension.

Homework

We expect students to complete homework by the deadlines set.

Response – students will be given one opportunity to hand in the next day, afer which parents will be contacted and asked to supervise the completon of homework. If the homework is stll not completed a detenton will be given. The student will stll be expected to complete the homework in their own tme.

Uniform

We expect students to always wear the school uniform correctly, including on the way to and from school.

Response – students wearing incorrect uniform will be given a warning. Once they have accumulated ten warnings, they will be placed on a report card. Failure to successfully complete the report card will result in a detenton.

Forbidden Items

We expect students to not wear jewellery (except for permited items) and to respect the mobile phone policy.

Response – on the frst occasion items will be confscated and available for the student to pick up at 3pm. On subsequent occasions items will be confscated and parents/carers will be required to pick up from school.

Lateness

We expect students to be on tme to school and on tme to all their lessons.

Response – Lateness to school will be sanctoned by a lunchtme detenton on the same day. Lateness to lessons is accumulated and once it exceeds 30 minutes in any half term will be made up on a Friday afer school.

Disrespectul and Bullying behaviours

We expect students to follow instructons, not be defant, respect others and not to act in a way that causes harm or distress to others.

Response – sanctons may vary dependent on the incident but may include refecton, a restoratve conversaton, a detenton or in extreme cases, internal seclusion (working alone out of lessons for a day or part of a day), suspension (for a fxed term of days) and in extreme circumstances permanent exclusion from school.

More Serious Concerns

When students make extremely poor choices that require a more serious sancton each incident is discussed with members of Senior Staf. Having reviewed the event and any incident statements writen by the perpetrator(s), target(s), and any witnesses a decision is taken, and an appropriate sancton applied. Due to these being serious breaches of the school’s Code of Conduct, all decisions are for school staf to make in their professional capacity and parents are expected to accept this.

Students refusing to atend lessons will be given the chance to rethink their choice, however the school takes truancy within school very seriously. Beyond the loss of learning and sense of belonging the student not in lesson becomes a safeguarding concern. If all opportunites to make the right choice about joining their class are exceeded the consequence for defying a member of SLT, the fnal layer of support, the student will face a suspension from school and a parental meetng will be required.

Biometrics

School based biometrics tend to take measurements from a scanner or reader that adequately capture the uniqueness of the source but do not capture a complete image. With such an approach the original cannot be reconstructed from the data. It is not possible to recreate a pupil’s actual fngerprint image from what is in efect a string of numbers. The fngerprint value is stored in a database on one com puter at the school in a proprietary format (an actual copy of the fngerprint image itself is NOT stored). Only the fngerprint reader and storage computer can recognize this format. Fingerprints and their derived values are not transferred to any other systems.

Biometric data is not stored in the same databases as all the personal informaton recorded by the school and anyone using those other databases will not have any access to the biometric data. When your child leaves Millais the data will be automatcally deleted.

Millais uses a fngerprint biometric system for staf and students to pay for food .

C.A.S. at Millais : Personal Development

'In pursuit of excellence’ runs through the heart of Millais – every student should have the opportunity to partcipate actvely and feel a sense of personal accomplishment in all aspects of their school life.

Secondary school, a 5-year journey at Millais, is a tme of huge personal growth for all students. We want students to enjoy their tme with us, and to feel a sense of belonging to our Millais school community. Our students should be aware of each, and every opportunity aforded to them during their school careers; that they feel able to contribute to their community, and they are excited about getng involved. Millais supports every student in achieving their own personal potental, and in the development of character traits, such as grit and resilience, that will help them manage their own lives and their relatonships now and in the future.

To ensure that our students are aware of all the personal development opportunites we ofer at Millais, we use our Millais CAS framework. CAS allows us to draw together all the components of our school community under one umbrella.

The 3 Pillars of CAS are:

C – Community and Citzenship - We want to encourage students to think about how they can make a positve impact in their community – this is delivered through leadership, volunteering and charity work opportunites.

A – Acton and Enrichment - We want students to enrich their experiences by engaging in all the fun and actve clubs, CA weeks and additonal opportunites we ofer at Millais. Please see the Enrichment document (under the Extra Curricular tab) outlining the many excitng club ofers at Millais.

S – Self and Wellbeing - We want to help students grow in self-awareness and to develop a mind-set that allows for happy, resilient, and successful lives and futures – this is delivered through a whole school approach to MHEW, including in our engagement with the 'Acton Your Potental' programme.

CAS is delivered through our ambitous and challenging curricular programme alongside our broad cocurricular and extra-curricular Enrichment schedule; both of which aford every student the opportunity to develop in each CAS aspect. In additon, student voice ( school council and student tutor roles), Millais CAS themed weeks, CA focus weeks, and a well -developed assembly schedule and tutor programme help support CAS delivery.

For the parent body, we provide a half termly CAS newsleter detailing upcoming events. There will be a number of parent informaton events running throughout the year also.

CAS - Student Voice and Leadership (SVL)

A community driven by strong student leadership and a service ethic is the student experience at Millais School. Student Voice and Leadership (SVL) is one of the main pillars of our Millais CAS framework. We hope that by engaging in such opportunites thro ughout their school career, our students: develop their personal skills and positve character traits allowing them to partcipate fully in society as actve and responsible citzens have an awareness of their ability to create change and are empowered to do so add to the Millais community through their creatvity, ideas, skills and their sense of fun

Personal and Character Development through SVL at Millais

Through SVL at Millais, our students can practce the nine core values underpinning our school ethos. Whilst there are a wide range of skills and atributes that contribute towards leadership, we hope that our students are able to work on the following key areas through the SVL programme also:

• Collaboraton - teamwork

• Creatvity - problem solving and innovatve thinking.

• Organisaton - planning and implementng

• Communicaton - the skill of oracy and positve use of infuence

• Self-esteem - self -awareness and emotonal intelligence

Careers

Careers educaton and guidance is delivered within the PD curriculum, the Year 10 Careers Days programme, Work Experience, the CAS tutor tme and assembly programme, as well as additonal opportunites provided by WSCC Careers Advice team.

The aim is to:

• Create excitement about future thinking to enable a successful and happy future

• Develop students’ understanding of their own interests and strengths and the possible study and career paths these could lead to.

• Give detailed insight into the full range of subjects on ofer at Millais and how opton choices can link to further study or careers.

• Provide a wide variety of employer encounters through visits, careers fairs and enrichment experiences, all of which demonstrate the wide array of careers available to young people today.

• Share local labour market informaton and use the Kudos and Unifrog careers packages to give students an idea of the employment opportunites available.

• Facilitate exposure to a range of post-16 study pathways to help students m ake the right decision for ‘life beyond Millais’.

• Help students develop their ability to ‘sell themselves’ in writng personal statements, CVs or preparing for interviews.

• Liaise with parents and careers to help them support their children with these important next steps.

Impartal guidance is ofered to students about GCSE optons and post-16 choices. Support and guidance are also ofered on the job applicaton process, including how to prepare for an interview and how to write a CV.

Communications Protocol : Parents

Summary

Maintaining Respectul and Open Communicaton

Always use a respectul and polite tone . Request don’t demand

Be ready not just to provide informaton, but to listen to teacher/staf observatons and perspectves. Enter the exchange with an open mind and assume a shared best interest for your child . Be prepared to work collaboratvely to solve problems

Confdentality

Recognise that confdentality may limit informaton that can be shared from school to parents, including consequences for other students’ behaviours.

Time to Respond to Communicaton

There is no expectaton of staf to respond to queries during their personal/family tme. There is an expectaton that communicaton and all interacton between school staf and parents/carers is mutually respectul.

Verbal and/or physical aggression or threats, ofensive language, and derogatory comments, whether face to face, over the phone, via email or on social media is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. School staf are not expected to respond to communicaton that is unacceptable, and these will be referred on to the appropriate person.

Parents/carers should contact school in the frst instance to fnd a resoluton to the concern. If parents remain unhappy about a situaton, then parents/carers should follow the proper complaints procedure as outlined on the website.

We appreciate that all issues are seen as being important by parents, but the word ‘urgent’ should only be used sparingly in situatons where there is a perceived immediate danger. There has to be recogniton of the tme required to fully understand situatons and deal with them properly. Anonymous communicaton

Please note that we will not respond to or follow up any anonymous communicaton.

Telephone

Please use the main recepton number to leave a message for a teacher to contact you: Recepton staf will relay messages to teachers as soon as possible. If a call is of an urgent Child Protecton nature, please inform the receptonist who will fnd a senior member of staf to speak to you before the end of the school day (5 pm)

For all other enquiries, we will try to respond to you within three to fve working days, if not the same day.

Email

High volumes of email trafc threaten the efciency of our staf and draws tme away from teaching and supportng students in school. Whilst constructve emails and queries are welcome, parents are requested to be considerate of the increasing workload burden when emailing school staf.

Teachers are not in a positon to check emails consistently throughout the day and the school does not expect work email to be checked during a teacher’s personal tme ( i.e., outside the school day). Emails

will be acknowledged within two working days, afer which tme it will be dealt with as quickly as possible. Part-tme staf may take longer to reply.

Teachers are not expected to respond to emails during the school holidays. Please do not use ofensive or derogatory comments directed at school staf.

Social Media

Complaints on social media can be damaging for the school, its staf and, most importantly, the children. Parents and carers are asked not to use social media to post negatve comments about the school. If parents have any concerns or complaints regarding the school, they should use ofcial channels so that we can work together to help resolve the concerns. Damaging accusatons, rumours and misinformaton can be very detrimental to staf morale and well being as well as to the whole school community.

Parents who use WhatsApp groups linked to the school do so at their own risk – these are not ofcial school sanctoned groups, and we are not responsible for, or required to act on, issues that are discussed.

We ask that parents do not engage with students on social media about school issues.

Meetngs

The day-to-day care, welfare and safety of your child is managed by the person who is placed closest to them. In the frst instance, please approach the following members of staf who are responsible for your child in the following order:-

1. Form Tutor or Classroom Teacher (if the query is relevant to a specifc subject)

2. Year Group Pastoral Team or Director of Learning (if the query is relevant to a specifc subject)

3. The member of the senior leadership team linked to the year group or subject area.

4. Headteacher

Meetngs must always be pre-arranged with members of staf.

If there is a serious family emergency or a child protecton issue, please phone ahead and the recepton staf will do their best to fnd the most appropriate member of staf to see you. For non-urgent meetngs we will aim to meet with you within fve working days. The school will determine the level of urgency at its discreton, to enable it to manage multple demands.

Contactng You

Our preferred method of contactng you is via Bromcom /MCAS app Please see next secton.

Communication

(Inbound & Outbound)

Parental engagement in educaton is one of the largest factors in student achievement.

Inbound Communicaton – from you to us

For quick messages we encourage you to use the secton in your child's E.L.R. (Extended Learning Record)

This is checked weekly by tutors on a Monday morning. Your child is free to show their tutor at any point during the week too.

Or use the Contact Us tab on our website.

Outbound communicaton – from us to you

We use a platorm called Bromcom to share school communicatons with you – which you will receive by email -including whole school leters, curriculum Informaton and invitatons to events. If you require support with getng connected, please email ofce@millais.org.uk or select ‘other’ on the contact form on the website.

MCAS (My Child At School) App

MCAS is a parental engagement app designed to share key informaton about your child’s day. You can view atendance, Community (+ve) & Behaviour Warnings ( -ve) points, tmetables, overview of homework, calendar and clubs and actvites.

How to Access MCAS – Parent guide How to Access MCAS

To login to the MCAS Parent Portal you will need to have a valid e -mail address registered with the school and an Invitaton Code which the school would have sent to you. If you do not have an Invitaton Code, please email ofce@millais.org.uk for one, as you will NOT be able to access the Parent Portal without one.

All users for MCAS with Millais will also need to be a Priority 1 contact. To request a change in priority, please email ofce.

Logging on

You can log on through a phone, web browser or even the App.

For phone and web browser actvaton

Click on the Redeem Invitaton Code? link provided in the email, and this will take you to the redeem your invitaton code page. Alternatvely, from within your web browser type www.mychildatschool.com this will open the login page. Do not use this page, click on “Redeem Invitaton Code?” just above the login buton.

For App actvaton

The process is slightly diferent from the above. Once you have downloaded the app, you will be asked to enter a 5-digit pin (and re-enter it) before being asked if you want to set up biometric fngerprint. It will then take you onto a login holding page w here you need to click on Login with.... ‘Username and password’. With this ‘Add Account’ page - do not use this, remove the keyboard and underneath you will see the “Redeem Invitaton Code?” which is just above the login buton. Click on this.

All users

Enter your School ID (13392), Username and the Invitaton Code, which will be a unique 10-character alphanumeric code, [which can only be used once to setup the Account], tck the I’m not a robot box and click on the Redeem Code buton. You will then be asked to enter the required informaton to setup the Login Details (entering an email address will al low you to do password recovery in future) and click on the Save Account Details buton. A message will be displayed that the new Login setup has been successful, and you will be returned to the Login page. You can now log in using the main page with your new password. Note your username is the one on your invitaton code email ( e.g., Smith123) and NOT your email address.

Once you log on for the frst tme, it will ask you if you wish to send the verify email link for password recovery. Click OK. An e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address entered asking for the Login informaton to be verifed, if this is not verifed the n you will not be able to Recover Account Details or change the Password in the future. If you should forget your Login Informaton, clicking on the Forgoten Login Details? link which will allow you to reset your Password or Recover Account Details.

Add an Account for another School if you have more than one Username.

If you have more than one account i.e., children at diferent Schools that use MCAS, click on the Accounts Icon at the botom of the screen. Then click the + at the top right of screen. From here, you can either repeat the Redeem Invitaton Code process with your other account details or enter your credentals if you have already redeemed them and just wish to add the account to the MCAS app now.

To view diferent accounts if you have more than one child at Millais.

If a Parent has more than one Child at the School, it will all be visible via the same MCAS Account. To switch to their other Child, Parents need to click on the Child’s name on the top lef of the Dashboard. This will provide a drop down where they can se lect another Child as seen below; By clicking on the Child’s name, the Parent can now select one of their other Children to view on MCAS.

STUDYBUGs – Reportng Absence Tool

Why have we decided to use Studybugs?

• It will have immediate benefts for parents as it will speed up the whole process of communicatng your child’s absence with us – no emails or phone calls needed.

• As Studybugs integrates with our existng system, the reason given for the absence, when reported by parents is entered automatcally against your child’s name on the register and then viewed immediately by the tutor and the atendance team.

• If your child is absent and there is no reason on the register, then the system will automatcally remind you to keep us posted so that we can account for every child as soon as possible.

• It will help to support your child’s health and well -being when they are ill as there are links to the NHS and other public health organisatons improve children’s health

• It will help to maximise atendance as paterns of absence can be identfed and tracked earlier Complaints

If you have any concerns about the school, we hope that you feel able to contact us in the frst instance in order to resolve them. Please use the contact buton on our school website. This will ensure that your enquiries get through to the right person or department.

The Educaton Act now lays down a procedure for the consideraton of complaints. The majority of complaints will, as in the past, be dealt with informally by discussion with the staf, the Headteacher or the Local Authority and setled amicably. In the rare and unfortunate event of a problem not being setled at the informal stage, there is now a formal process in which the complaint can be passed on to the governing body. Further details of this procedure are avail able from the Headteacher’s PA.

Code of Conduct :

Home

/ School Partnership Expectations

As a school: We will…

Support your child’s wellbeing and safety by providing a safe, and caring environment.

Help and encourage your child to reach their full potental.

Monitor and update on your child’s progress at parent meetngs and in writen reports.

Communicate any concerns about your child’s atendance/behaviour/wellbeing with you as their parent or carer and respond to any concerns from your child or parents/carers.

Provide a broad and balanced curriculum that caters for all children.

Promote high standards of behaviour and outline clear expectatons in our behaviour policy so we can maintain a safe environment for all children.

Set homework that supports the delivery of the curriculum and mark it where appropriate.

Ofer opportunites for parents and carers to get involved in school life.

Communicate through specifc platorms and the school website.

Respond to communicatons from parents in a tmely manner, following school policies.

Parents/Carers: I will…

Make sure my child atends school regularly and on tme.

I will notfy the school if my child will be absent.

Make sure my child is dressed in the correct uniform and brings the necessary equipment to school .

Support the school to make sure my child maintains a consistently high standard of behaviour

Encourage my child to try their best so they can reach their full potental .

Communicate to the school any concerns that I have about my child that may afect their behaviour in school or ability to learn .

Make sure that the communicatons protocol is adhered to and any contact I make with members of the school community is respectul (Please see Communicatons secton for full protocol)

Understand that I should communicate with staf during core school hours, and although they may at tmes respond outside of those hours, I can’t always expect that .

Make sure that my child completes their homework on tme and raises any issues with their teachers.

Read and follow the school’s policies .

Engage in parent meetngs and work together with the school in order to achieve the best outcomes for my child

Read any communicatons sent home by the school and respond where necessary.

Students: I will…

Arrive at school and my lessons every day on tme and ready to learn.

Try my best to do my work and ask for help if I need it.

Do my homework on tme and raise any issues with my teachers.

Speak to an adult about any issues I’m experiencing afectng my work or behaviour.

Speak to an adult about any concerns I have about my or other pupils’ safety.

Wear the correct school uniform.

Bring to school all the equipment I need each day.

Treat all members of the school community with care and respect.

Understand and follow the school rules.

Look afer school equipment and show respect for the school environment and local community.

Code of Conduct : Students

Below are the expectatons that your child will have in their ELR. We recommend you take tme to visit these jointly and ensure they fully understand them.

We want everyone at Millais to be part of our stmulatng and positve community. To achieve this, we need to come together and all…

• Be safe and well.

• Enjoy good mental & physical health.

• Enjoy school and achieve our best.

• Make a positve contributon to the Millais community.

• Refect on our actons and celebrate our successes.

• Communicate with honesty, tolerance and respect.

Around school you should…

Wear your uniform with pride.

Show consideraton of others and always communicate in a co -operatve and polite manner. Actvely seek out opportunites to be kind to others.

Respect all property.

Where possible walk on the lef and hold doors open for others.

Keep the environment clean, tdy and liter free.

Never engage in ant-social behaviour such as bullying, fghtng, smoking or vaping.

Never risk being permanently excluded because you possess any dangerous items or an ofensive weapon or are involved in handling/taking/supplying any drugs including alcohol .

In lessons including tutor tme we would love you to…

Exceed the minimum expectatons displayed in each classroom.

Behave in a way which does not disrupt the learning of others.

Take pride in your work.

Partcipate fully with enthusiasm, cooperaton and a can -do attude. Work hard, expect to make mistakes, expect to learn from them.

Listen atentvely, record homework accurately and ask for help if you need it.

Outside school or on the way home please, please, please…

Remember that when you are in uniform you are representng the school - the way you behave, and the code of conduct stll applies.

Never act in a way which puts your safety or that of others in jeopardy .

Not have headphones, earphones or ear pods in when riding your bicycle to school or crossing roads on foot.

Keeping you and others safe…

If you are concerned about the health, safety or wellbeing of yourself or another student, let a member of staf know immediately.

When using the Internet/school network/any handheld device…

Observe all rules as detailed in the relevant Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

Never allow anyone else to know or use your passwords.

Act in a safe, responsible/non -ofensive way always.

Understand that all aspects of your use will be monitored and recorded. Be aware that inappropriate use may result in loss of access as well as disciplinary acton.

Report any misuse immediately to a Member of Staf.

Students should agree to the following statement “ I understand the school’s expectatons in relaton to my conduct, I have read and agree to abide by all AUPs. I also understand that should I fail to meet the minimum expectatons set out in the Code of Conduct appropriate sanctons will be applied.”

Curriculum

We pride ourselves on the high quality of teaching and learning we provide in our school. We ensure that lessons are challenging, creative and robust. Teachers create welcoming and productive environments in their classrooms and encourage the active involvement of students in their learning at every stage of their academic journey. The achievement of every student is important to us.

We provide:

• a carefully structured, broad and balanced curriculum that supports numeracy and literacy.

• a creative approach to stimulate learning, build confidence and raise the attainment of all our students.

• opportunities to extend and develop understanding after school and additional support for those who may struggle to access the curriculum.

Each Curriculum Area has a Learning Journey available on the website.

Key Stage 3

At the start of each academic year parents of Key Stage 3 students can view a copy of the Year 7, 8 and 9 Curriculum Document on the school website www.millais.org.uk which outlines the areas covered, the skills addressed, the teaching/learning styles and the assessment procedures used for each subject. There is also informaton about the curriculum at KS4 (Years 10 & 11) with access to courses ofered in all subject areas on the school website.

We take pride in our provision for students with Special Educatonal Needs and make all reasonable adaptatons to ensure students with disabilites can access the curriculum. Learning Support Assistants work alongside students with additonal needs in all subjects.

Natonal Curriculum Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8 & 9)

All Year 7 students are placed in mixed ability form groups and these same groups are initally used for teaching purposes in all subjects except English where they are set for a short tme for extra interventon and Mathematcs where setng is introduced at some point in the frst half term.

*Figures may not total 100% because of rounding

Key Stage 4

Natonal Curriculum Key Stage 4 (Years 10 & 11)

The full range of opton pathways available to students are published in the optons pathway booklet. This can be downloaded from the school website. Students also have the opportunity to explore GCSE opton subjects at our Year 9 optons evening in the sp ring term. In Years 10/11 the patern varies slightly to refect an element of student choice. The curriculum is constantly under review, but we currently ofer the following:

– with opton of separate sciences.

FOUR ADDITIONAL EXTRA SUBJECTS FROM:

Additonal Maths & Statstcs; Art & Design; Child Development (Accredited); Citzenship; Computer Science; Dance; Design Technology (Graphics/Product Design/Textles); Drama; Engineering; Food Preparaton & Nutriton; Further Maths & Statstcs; Geography; History; Informaton Technology (Accredited); Music; Music Technology (Tech Award); Performing Arts (Tech Award); Philosophy & Ethics; Physical Educaton (GCSE); Triple Science (Physics/Chemistry/Biology).

*Please note that fgures may not total 100% because of rounding

In addition, some students are offered the opportunity to take the Junior Sports Leader Award

Dates

Here at Millais, we follow the West Sussex Term Dates and we set our own Inset Days within this. Each year there are a total of 5 inset days and parents are notfed of this via the school calendar, visible on the school website.

Detentions

Very few students ever fnd themselves in detenton but for those that do, they will be issued an afer-school detenton. These will be notfed to students and parents by email and parents will also be able to see them through the MCAS app. Most detentons take place in Curriculum Areas and last up to 45 minutes.

If a student fails to turn up to a detenton, they will be given a second chance. Failure to turn up a second tme will mean they are removed from the lesson they received it in and will sit in a diferent lesson. If students refuse to follow instructons, they may be suspended from school for persistent disrupton behaviour.

Beyond the detenton system are internal seclusions where students are removed from the general school community, fxed term suspensions in which parents must atend a reintegraton meetng with the Headteacher and permanent exclusion.

Enrichment

Clubs & SPAs

Lunchtme and Afer School Clubs

At Millais, you will fnd an array of actvites for your child to get involved in both at lunchtme and afer school. We strongly encourage all students to get involved, they are most welcome. Students are asked to sign up for clubs via the link posted on their Year Group Team

Supportng Pupil Achievement - SPA sessions

SPA sessions are for students to drop in to afer school, and atendance is voluntary. The sessions are designed for students to meet with a member of staf (usually their teacher) to work on specifc aspects of their work that they are having difculty with. The sessions normally run from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. but the students do not need to atend for the full hour. Students are free to leave once they have worked on what they have chosen to work on.

Educatonal Visits

We organise a wide range of educational visits and enrichment opportunities for every child in our school. They take part in workshops, attend lectures, visit theatres, museums, galleries and places of work. Educational trips take place in every year group to consolidate knowledge gained in the classroom and further extend our students’ learning. One of the school’s priorities is to broaden students’ experience by organising trips in the UK and abroad. Our international residencies have seen students visiting New York with Dance, France, Italy with PE and Holland with Art.

MTA

Millais Musical Theatre Academy was set up in 2021 to give our students the chance to develop their skills in actng, singing & dancing, build their self-esteem & confdence and promote positve mental health & wellbeing afer the pandemic.

Over the last 3 years students have had the chance to take part in school trips and flm nights, atend talks and workshops. We are also proud to have launched Musical Theatre Academy’s frst full scale producton of Legally Blonde in June 2022. Followed by our Footloose show at The Capitol in June 2023.

Musical Theatre Academy is open to all students and run voluntarily by staf in the Creatve and Expressive Arts Faculty. All funds raised from concerts like Reach Ever Higher go straight into the producton budget. This year’s funds are being raised to perform Beauty and the Beast in 2024 with the hope to fundraise a return to The Capitol in 2025.

Musical Theatre Academy is open to all students from year 7 to year 10.

Equipment

Students should have the following equipment with them every day at school: Current reading book (students will visit the library during their inducton) , Student planner (provided to students on the frst day of the academic year) , 1 x water botle – full, Books/folders for that day A pencil case with the following contents: 2 x black or blue writng pens , 1 x green writng pen , 2 x highlighter pens, 2 x sharpened pencils, 1x rubber, 1 x 30cm ruler, 1 x pair of compasses, 1 x protractor, 1 x Casio Scientfc calculator

Exams

Millais School has a history of strong GCSE results and is regularly the top performing non -selectve comprehensive school in the county. With the Government move towards linear qualifcatons and the increased emphasis on examinatons for assessment, we are well equipped to build on this history of success.

The Examinaton team at Millais School is highly commited to each student. This means that we will wherever possible accommodate individual student needs, provide a strong fully trained invigilaton team to support the running of examinatons and will pro vide tmely and considered responses to all students and parents with any questons or concerns about the examinaton process.

The Examinatons team welcome the opportunity to discuss and questons or concerns in regard to the examinatons process. Please email exams@millais.org.uk if we can be of any assistance.

Expectations

Students must:

• respect and work co-operatvely with others

• try their best to achieve excellence.

• be responsible for their own learning and for the learning of others.

• behave impeccably outside of lessons.

• behave in a positve manner in the local community and always give a positve representaton of the school.

• be prepared for learning with the correct uniform and equipment.

• atend school every day, on tme.

• give the highest regard to the safety of themselves and others.

Students must not:

• bring in anything dangerous or illegal.

• threaten, bully, be violent or abusive.

• damage school property

• bring in valuable items as the school cannot be held responsible for their safety.

• truant

• be late for lessons.

Finance Department

Many extra expenses are incurred in the provision of a good educaton, most especially when we seek to enrich the experiences ofered to the students. The Educaton Reform Act, however, lays down complex and detailed rules about actvites for which parents can and cannot be charged. In order to simplify maters the governors have decided to fund all curriculum enrichment actvites that take place during all, or part, of the school day through ‘voluntary contributons.’ By law we cannot exclude any student because their parents are unwilling to pay. However, we have to point out that unless all parents who are able to contribute do so, then a trip or actvity may have to be cancelled, as the school could not aford to cover the cost.

Parents will be charged for individual music tuiton where this is provided as private lessons.

For work done in the Design and Technology area parents will be asked to contribute a small sum to cover materials if, as hoped, students wish to own the fnished product.

It is school policy to enter students for public examinatons for all the courses they have followed at the level that staf feel is most appropriate. Parents are usually guided by the school about this but there is always a facility for parents to pay entry fees if circumstances warrant it. Parents will, however, be asked to reimburse the school if a child fails to atend an examinaton for which the fees have been paid by the school, unless a medical certfcate is produced.

ParentPay

See ‘P’ secton below

Food

Millais has a modern well-equipped kitchen designed for the efficient preparation of fresh, healthy and nutritious meals on the school site each day.

The school has worked hard to incorporate the Government’s new food standards for schools as part of our way of encouraging all our pupils to lead healthier lifestyles. Parents who send their children to school with ‘dinner money’ can be assured that they will benefit from the wide range of hot and cold meals provided in the Millais School Canteen. Main meals change daily on a three -week menu cycle. The canteen is open for breakfast (7.45 -8.15am), at break (10.30 -10.45am) and lunch times (12.351.00pm).

At Millais we operate a cashless catering system and use biometrics for payment at the tills.  Parents can put money onto their child's  ParentPay account. Students can purchase a main meal with vegetables with a choice of dessert for £2.85. See Featured Content for full price list.  A wide variety of snacks can be purchased from the school Canteen including homemade sandwiches and wraps from as low as £1.60p.  Boxed main course salads, including Chicken Caesar Salad, Pasta Salad, and Potato Salad, and boxed side salads, prices range from 85p

Flightpaths

– What are they?

• A flightpath is a forecast of the final grade in a particular subject based on assessment data

• It has nothing to do with levels

• It is not a working at grade

• Students are placed on a flightpath determined by their knowledge, skills and understanding

• Progress of the current flightpaths are tracked against expected flightpaths.

Expected Flightpaths

• These sit in the background but determine the progress colour of the current flightpath.

• Expected flightpaths are determined using KS2 tests (SATs).

• These may vary in different subjects.

Free School Meals (FSM)

A number of parents at Millais will qualify for what is known as “Free School Meals”. It is very important for us that we have the maximum number of eligible parents registered for FSM because it will increase the funding we receive from the local authority. We therefore encourage parents to apply if they feel there is a possibility they might qualify.

• Because Millais operates a biometric system, your child will never be singled out as a receiver of free school meals. It is not possible to tell which child is paying for lunch when they use the biometric tlls, and which is registered as getng lunch for free. This is another advantage of the biometric system.

• As well as being able to provide a healthy, hot meal every day for your child, free school meals funding also allows the school to buy additonal classroom resources to support learning for all children at Millais, so we encourage all parents who believe that they are eligible to make a claim to do so.

Your child qualifes for Free School Meals if you or their other parent/carer are receiving:

• Income Support

• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance o Income -related Employment and Support Allowance

• The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit

• Support under Part VI of the Immigraton and Asylum Act 1999

• Child Tax Credit-provided you are not enttled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income that does not exceed £16,190 (as assessed by HM Revenue & Customs)

• Working Tax Credit run -on - paid for 4 weeks afer you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

• Universal Credit

If you would like to fnd out more, please use the contact us tab on the website or call recepton.

Generosity

The PTA work closely with the school to help support our community. There are several ways in which you can help. Here are some of them: Support our events by taking part or volunteering. Make use of contacts to provide prizes for any draws & rafes. Join us and help to plan and organise the events. Tell us about your ideas for events and other actvites.

We welcome enquiries from parents and local employers interested in supportng events. To discuss possible opportunites please contact the Chair of the PTA. Email chair on millaispta@gmail.com

Homework

All Millais students are expected to do homework; the tasks and the amount will vary according to their age and ability. A homework tmetable is issued annually, and students have an Extended Learning Record (ELR) to record, plan and organise their tme wi th regards to completng and handing in homework.

In additon to homework, the school encourages students to read quietly for 30 minutes to one hour every day.

Setng of homework

Your child will be part of the Ofce365 TEAM for every class on their tmetable, and indeed their tutor group. All Curriculum Areas are asked to use the class's TEAM to set work, provide resources, and where applicable; to collect work in (this means that work should be uploaded via the online assignment). Some classes may be directed to other media platorms or websites for their homework resources, and this will be clearly communicated in class.

Ofce 365 TEAMs is available as an app which we encourage students to use alongside their ELR. The entre Ofce 365 Suite is available to our students as part of their school registraton.

Details of how to access Teams and MCAS can be found on the school website under the learning secton.

Information Technology

We use Microsof Teams as a learning platorm in school and use the Assignments facility as our homework platorm. You are able to get an overview of the homework tasks on the MCAS app.

See Online Learning Platorm for login informaton.

Internal Exclusion (Isolation)

As part of an efectve behaviour management system , we run an Internal Exclusion consequence, this is also referred to as Isolaton. The purpose of this consequence is to isolate students from their peers when they have commited a serious breach of the behaviour code, sending a clear message to them and to their classmates that the school will not tolerate such behaviour and that the choices they have made have consequences.

• Students in Isolaton will be expected to complete work throughout the day, so as not to fall behind in their learning.

• Isolaton is typically for one full day

• In the highly unlikely event that a student behaves badly within Isolaton their stay will be extended or they may even be subject to a fxed term suspension (which Isolaton is of course designed to avoid where possible).

Knowing the teenage brain !

Acton Your Potental is an external company that we work in partnership with to support young people and their families to understand their amazing brains.

AYP help young people learn 14 #NeuroNinja skills to build great well-being and manage positve mental health, learn to manage their brain's worry systems and unleash learning. The 14 #NeuroNinja skills are daily habits that change our brains .

As members of the #NeuroNinja community you all have access to our #NeuroNinja Hub, where you will fnd lots of resources and all of our other webinars for parents. You can sign up to the hub here. We take your privacy very seriously and we will only contact you to share with you relevant content to help you help your child.

The context…The desire to support our community as we re -emerged into post-covid life identfed an opportunity to work in unison with each other. We have shared an unprecedented experience and it’s not a case of us as adults having the answers but, instead, a chance to rebuild and reconfgure together.

Research shows us that our mental wellbeing is a skill and the work that Andrew Wright advocates through Acton your Potental explores why our brains fnd 21st century life so difcult and what we can all do, each and every day, to help our incredible brains and bodies build the best version of ourselves.

We have everything we need in our own head; we just need to get it to work well for us every day, ‘Acton Your Potental’ takes neuroscience, psychology and health science, making it accessible and explicable, providing practcal ways of improving wellbeing, mind management and learning every day.

As well as the hub, Acton Your Potental run Parent Webinars and ofer one -to-one coaching which is free to our school community.

LRC & Literacy

The school Learning Resource Centre is open Monday to Thursday 8.30am – 5pm and is staffed at all times., and Friday at breaktime and lunchtime, The library offers a wide range of fiction and nonfiction books, magazines, daily newspapers, audiobooks and DVDs for students to enjoy. There are also computers and laptops available for students to complete school and homework.

The library offers the opportunity for students to train as student librarians and hosts lessons and events designed to encourage a love for reading and develop literacy skills.

We take a keen interest in students’ reading and track and monitor reading skills and progress. For students who may struggle with an aspect of reading, a full intervention programme is in place to get them back on track.

Medical

The First Aid Room exists to provide initial assistance or treatment to a person who is injured or suddenly taken ill during the school day.

The Medical Welfare Officer will endeavour to provide health advice and support to individuals in school and to support the school’s ‘Healthy Schools’ programme.

The First Aid facility should not be seen as a point of reference for pupils with ongoing medical conditions or injuries/illnesses that have occurred out of school. In this respect the First Aid facility should not be seen or used as an alternative to or e xtension of a GP surgery, health clinic or hospital.

In line with  Government Guidelines we would ask that pupils are not sent to school when they are clearly unwell or infectious.

Depending on what the accident/illness is, primarily we will try to manage it in school. If a student is unwell and is unable to remain in school the Medical Welfare Officer or relevant first aider will contact a parent/carer to come and collect the pupil. The Medical Welfare Officer (or in their absence designated lead first aider) is the only person who can authorise a pupil going home unwell.

All pupils who need to go home have to be collected from the main reception at school by an appropriate adult. Any pupil contacting a parent directly for collection from school without prior agreement from the Medical Welfare Officer will have the absence unauthorised.

The First Aid room is equipped to deal with most basic first aid requirements.

The Medical Welfare Officer’s hours are 8.00 – 3.00. The First Aid Room is open within these times excluding when the Medical Welfare Officer is ‘on call’ or on a work break. Non -emergency visits to the First Aid room should be made at break and lunchtimes (see ELR) the First Aid room will always be staffed during these times.

Monitoring Progress

Monitoring and progress informaton is communicated through PCTLs (Progress and Commitment To Learning) via MCAS. Depending on which year groups your child is in you will receive between 3 and 4 of these year with one of these being an academic summary review. The criteria from which students are assessed will be communicated via the PCTL and can be downloaded from the school website.

Staf give each student a current fightpath for each reportng event. This is based on current work and/or assessments. It is an overview of their recent work and progress and is not based on a single assessment.

The PCTL feedback will include codes that relate to the student’s strength in that subject and areas for development. You will have a full explanaton of what these codes mean on the document you receive. Students are also given an efort grade in relaton to meetng expectatons within the subject.

Manners

We are regularly praised by outside agencies for the outstanding manners of our students, and this is another aspect of school life that we work together with parents. We expect students to be courteous to all members of our community at all tmes and we celebrate this by being able to recognise students with positve community points who go above and beyond.

We also ask that adults coming into our school bear in mind that we are role models at all tmes. You will see this message any tme you visit our school:

Online Learning Platform

Our online provision for independent learning is the Ofce365 Platorm. We also use MCAS app (My Child at School) to inform you of your child’s assignments.

Microsof Ofce365 & Teams

All students are provided with an Ofce 365 account, and they have a single user-id and password to access all aspects of our remote provision. They receive this in their computer lessons on the frst couple of weeks of the Academic year.

Accessing their Ofce 365 accounts from home is a simple process of using the web browser and searching Ofce 365 Login. When you are prompted, enter your school email (ending in @millais.org.uk) as the username and the password from your school account.

Teachers will ofen set homework on Teams and use it as a communicaton method to keep in touch or add notces. Head of Years and other members of staf, including the Exams Team, will ofen post on here for updates and reminders.

MCAS Parent App

See Communicatons

Online Safety

It is vital that parents and staf work together to safeguard our students, to educate them on the dangers that come with being online and be aware of the repercussions that come with being involved in cyber bullying either directly or on the periphery.

Defniton:

Cyberbullying is bullying through the use of communicaton technology such as mobile phone text messages, social media apps, e -mails or websites. This can take many forms, for example:

• Sending threatening or abusive text/instant messages or e -mails, personally or anonymously

• Making insultng comments about someone on a website, social networking site ( e.g., TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat) or online (blog or YouTube)

• Making or sharing derogatory, infammatory or embarrassing videos of someone via mobile phone or email (such as ‘Happy Slapping’ videos or physical/verbal assaults).

Cyber bullying is a critcal issue which can be harmful for the young person involved. It is important that parents and carers understand the way young people communicate with others, the potental risks and implicatons to online behaviour.

Signs of Cyber bullying:

• Secretve behaviour as you approach the computer, such as rapidly switching of screens, or atempts to hide online behaviour, such as empty fle history.

• Appears nervous when receiving a text, instant message, or email.

• Difculty sleeping

• Unexplained weight loss and gain

• Spending much more or much less tme textng, gaming or using social media.

• Low self-esteem

• Avoiding formerly enjoyable from social events

• Not wantng to go to school and/or avoiding meetng friends and schoolmates.

• Suddenly behaving diferently at home

• Not doing as well in school

The following guidelines outline how parents/carers can talk to their child about online safety :

• Always use privacy setngs

• Always respect others - be careful what you say online.

• Be careful what pictures and videos you upload. Once a picture or is shared online it cannot be taken back.

• Only add people you know and trust to friends/follower lists online. When talking to strangers, keep your personal informaton safe and locaton hidden.

• Save the evidence. Always keep a copy of ofending emails, text messages or a screen grab of online conversatons and pass to a parent or a teacher.

• Make sure you tell an adult you trust, for example, a parent, a teacher or the safeguarding lead, or call a helpline on 0800 1111 in confdence.

• Learn the functons of how to block someone.

• Most social media services and other sites have a buton you can click on to report bullying. Doing this can prevent a bully from targetng you and others in the future.

Advice to Parents/Carers:

Cyberbullying can be really difcult for a child to deal with therefore it is important that parents/carers keep calm and listen to their child about any concerns they may be experiencing. It is important to regularly check-in with your child. If they are experiencing cyberbullying, you should contact external organisatons that can provide help and support such as Childline, and contact Millais to report it as soon as possible.

Online Safety at Home:

• Discuss with your child what sites and apps they like and explore them together.

• Discuss with your child what sites and apps are age appropriate

• Be positve about what you see online but also be open about any concerns that you may have as a parent/carer.

• Keep the computer in a public place in the house.

Parent controls are sofware and tools which you can install on your phone or tablet, game consoles or laptops and your home broadband.

Parent controls help you to:

• Plan what tme of day your child can go online and how long for

• Stop them from downloading apps they are too young for

• Manage the content diferent members of the family can see.

• Help you to block or flter the content you see when you’re searching online.

There are always diferent methods to keep your child safe online. Millais will ensure that all parents and carers are informed of the procedures in place in the Ant -Bullying Policy to deal with all forms of bullying including cyber-bullying.

It is essental that all parents and carers are involved in resolving the issues that stem from cyber bullying because this can help to strengthen their child’s self-confdence and restore a sense of emotonal safety.

Important and useful informaton can be found on the following sites to provide support to parents, carers and children:

Cybersmile Foundaton: htps://www.cybersmile.org/

Thinkuknow: htps://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk- 0808 800 5002

Childnet: www.childnet.com

The Ant-Bullying Alliance: www.ant-bullyingalliance.org.uk

Kidscape: htps://www.kidscape.org.uk/ Childline: htps://www.childline.org.uk/ Young Minds: htps://youngminds.org.uk/

The Diana Award : htps://diana-award.org.uk/

Parental Involvement

Parental engagement in educaton is one of the largest factors in student achievement.

We expect all parents/carers to play an actve part in the life of the school. It is only by listening and responding to your views that we will reach the standards of excellence we seek at Millais. We regularly provide parents/carers with informaton and data to ensure they are informed of their child’s progress; there are parents’ evenings, progress review day and progress reports are compiled three tmes a year and posted home. The school website also holds additonal informaton regarding news and curre nt events as well as learning resources and school policies. The school website holds additonal informaton regarding news and current events as well as learning resources and school policies.

Since September 2023 we have been proudly telling our Story via our website with weekly posts celebratng everything ‘Millaising ’ taking place in and out of school. We actvely encourage parents /carers to follow us on X/Twiter to get an excitng glimpse inside our doors. Stories highlights are also shared to our Facebook page.

We regularly provide parents/carers with informaton and data to ensure they are informed of their child’s progress; there are parents’ evenings and progress reports are compiled three tmes a year and available via the MCAS app.

In-person

Parents are always welcome to visit the school by appointment and are encouraged to visit and share their professional knowledge at our careers & enterprise events. If you would like to fnd out more about volunteering for these, please contact our careers department at: careers@millais.org.uk

Parents Evening

Details of dates and tmings for parents’ evenings will be communicated home and published on the school website. We run a selecton of face to face and online events.

PTA

It goes without saying we want the best for our students and their school and as a Parent Teacher Associaton we aim to do this by raising money for the school and by developing good relatons with the parents, the students, the staf and the wider communi ty.

We do this by putng on a variety of actvites throughout the year to engage everyone within the school community. These actvites have included Quiz Nights, Murder Mystery evening, Everything Prom Fashion show and theatre trips to the West End.

We also manage the second-hand uniform shop which is available at every Parents' Evening throughout the year as well as other advertsed dates. We are always happy to receive donatons.

As a PTA we have been able to support the school by purchasing a wide range of equipment, including donatons to the ftness suite, dance studio, and the purchase of the school minibuses.

The PTA is made up of parents, staf and Governors. We meet 6 tmes a year and each September we hold an Annual General Meetng that anyone can atend.

There are several ways in which you can help. Here are some of them: Support our events by taking part or volunteering. Make use of contacts to provide prizes for any draws & rafes. Join us and help to plan and organise the events. Tell us about your ideas for events and other actvites.

We welcome enquiries from parents and local employers interested in supportng events. To discuss possible opportunites please contact the Chair of the PTA. Email chair on millaispta@gmail.com

PTA Second Hand Uniform Shop

The PTA run a second-hand uniform shop which is available at all Parents evenings and on Inducton Evening for new starters in July. We also run a few extra ad hoc days during the year. Most items are £5. We would appreciate any donatons of second-hand uniform as we are always in need of more stock. Any uniform can be handed in to Main Recepton marked FAO PTA.

ParentPay

Millais operates a cashless e-payment system – ParentPay – for morning break, lunch, classroom actvites requiring special equipment, and extra -curricular actvites such as school trips. Therefore, students should never need to bring money into school or have money on their person which means that the risk of loss is greatly reduced.

With ParentPay you know that your money has reached your child’s account safely, you can view your account statement and payment history, check when payments need to be made and set alerts to tell you when to pay online. This ePayment system allows parents and carers to pay online by debit & credit card or in cash at local PayPoint stores. Each parent has a secure online account, actvated using a unique actvaton username and password. ParentPay holds an electronic record of your payments to view at a later date.

A detailed ParentPay user guide can be downloaded from the ParentPay website (www.parentpay.com) or in the introductory ParentPay leter sent to all Year 7 parents and carers. Please do not hesitate to contact the school fnance ofce if you need assistan ce, at fnance@millais.org.uk

Phones (& Devices) in School

Mobile devices include mobile phones, tablets and other ‘smart’ devices including watches, wireless earphones etc. There is no exhaustve list as technology changes rapidly.

Phones including head/earphones are not to be used at any tme during the school day. This includes before school and whilst on the school site. The only excepton to this is if a teacher permits that you use your phone in an agreed and structured way during a lesson.

If you choose to bring your phone to school then please note that it must be switched of and out of sight at all tmes on site during the school day, including before school.

You may use your phone on site afer 3.00pm in communal areas only e.g., outside, in the bus hall. Should your phone make a sound, including if it vibrates in lessons, or if you check your phone on site, then your phone will be confscate d.

Please note that if you bring your phone to school then you do so at your own risk.

Why has the school taken this decision?

We believe that prohibitng phone use on site results in the following benefts for you, our students:

It provides more opportunites for you to engage in face -to-face communicaton and socialise with others.

It increases the school’s ability to keep you safe on site.

The eliminaton of inappropriate use of phones supports your emotonal and mental wellbeing.

It encourages self-organisaton and self-regulaton. It reduces the amount of screen tme you engage in, which is recommended by recent research.

What if my child needs to contact me during the school day?

If students need to contact their parents or carer, in the case of an emergency, then they can do so via the Recepton Desk.

What happens if my child’s phone is confscated?

The frst tme it is confscated, it will be returned at the end of the school day and collected from Recepton.

The second tme it is confscated the parent or carer will be contacted and will need to collect their phone from Recepton.

On the third tme it is confscated the parent or carer will be contacted by the Director of Year or a member of SLT to discuss how your child’s mobile phone will be managed in the future.

Policies

Statutory policies are reviewed and updated on a rolling programme by the governors to the school; these are available on request. Additonally, the school has internal policies drawn up to provide guidance for the management and delivery of teaching and learning. All policies are available on our website.

Questions for us

More informaton available in the Communicatons secton.

Reading & Vocabulary

Reading and Vocabulary

Today a reader, tomorrow a leader!

At Millais we understand the importance of reading for your academic success and for your well -being. Reading reduces stress by as much as much 68% and can add an entre GCSE grade of progress. If you read for just 20 minutes a day, you will have read around 1,800,000 w ords in a year!

The LRC has a large range of books for you to enjoy, including audio and online books if you prefer. If you are struggling to fnd a book that you like or need a recommendaton, our librarian will give you lists of recommended reads. Your English teacher can help you too.

Relationships & Sex Education (RSE)

Relatonships and Sex Educaton (RSE) is lifelong learning about physical, moral and emotonal development. It is about the understanding of the importance of family life, stable and loving relatonships, respect, love and care. It is also about the teaching of sex, sexuality and sexual health. The school ofers units of RSE as an integral part of the Personal Development programme and within the Science Natonal Curriculum. RSE is delivered in a balanced and sensitve manner, within a moral and caring framework. It is not about the promoton of sexual orientaton or sexual actvi ty.

RSE does not replace family/parental involvement; the school and parents share responsibility for this aspect of educaton.

There are three main elements to RSE:

• Attudes and values.

• Learning to manage emotons and relatonships confdently.

• Knowledge and understanding of physical development at appropriate stages.

In accordance with DfE Statutory Guidance, as of September 2020/21 RSHE (Relatonships, Sex and Health Educaton) is now a compulsory aspect of primary and secondary school educaton. Schools are expected to teach an RSHE curriculum that meets the DfE’s statutory guidance. DfE guidance states that parents have the right to withdraw their children from the ‘sex’ aspects of RSHE teaching within the PSHE curriculum, but not from that which is covered within the Science Natonal curriculu m. Afer the age of 16, secondary school aged students have the right to decide if they wish to atend their PSHE lessons covering this content. Parents wishing to exercise the right to withdraw need to contact the Headteacher and put their request in writng.

At Millais, we have designed the curriculum to ensure that all aspects are of a statutory nature.

Parents will be informed of the RSE content of PD lessons before relevant units are delivered. Full details of the RSHE policy and curriculum map can be found on our school website.

Religious Studies & Philosophy (RSP)

In Religious Studies and Philosophy (RSP) lessons at Millais we study both religious and non -religious views about key issues facing modern society such as confict and peace, discriminaton and the environment. The students explore the key beliefs and pra ctces of a range of worldviews while developing key critcal thinking, oracy and literacy skills.

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from Religious Studies and Philosophy lessons. Any parent wishing to exercise this right should put their request in writng to the Headteacher.

Rewarding Achievement

Positve behaviour in and around school is extremely important to us at Millais. There is a high emphasis placed on praise and there are many opportunites to reward and celebrate success.

All students can earn positve community points as well as termly awards for academic achievement, outstanding classwork or homework, excellent efort, atendance at extra -curricular clubs, performances, sportng representaton, and contributons to the school community. Achievements are celebrated in assemblies and communicated home via MCAS, praise postcards, and our Director of Year Celebraton and Recogniton leters .

Students can be awarded a range of positve points, known at school as Community Points. We recognise the accumulaton of these throughout the academic year by issuing students with Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platnum certfcates of recogniton. We know that individual families enjoy marking these occasions in their own way at home and so we hope this is cause for celebraton when your child comes home from school with theirs.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is a critcal part of keeping your child safe. The school has a very comprehensive safeguarding policy, which outlines all the actons we will take to help all our young people. To help support your child in school, please be aware of the following avenues for your child to inform us of any safeguarding issues:

• Bullying and Cyberbullying reportng - all students can access a student Report It! Buton on their desktops and report any concerns regarding feeling bullied , which includes the use of social media.

• PSHE - We have a personal, social and health educaton curriculum that addresses many aspects of safeguarding, including cyberbullying, but more importantly how your child can develop their understanding, skills and knowledge to minimise risk in many dife rent situatons.

• Pastoral system - Our pastoral care system has an excellent team of Directors of Year, Assistant Directors of Year, Student Support Leaders, Learning Mentors, and Form Tutors readily available to help. The Form Tutor will always work on developing an excellent relatonship with students and parents / carers to be the frst port of call.

• Supportng “vulnerable” students - we are understanding that there are certain cohorts in the student body are more vulnerable and provide an exceptonal inclusion support to help them throughout their tme at Millais, with a generous allocaton of therapists, learning support assistants, and learning mentors.

• Involvement with external agencies - we work closely with a number of organisatons, which includes Early Help, Social services, Prevent, and the Police to provide additonal support.

• The school’s designated safeguarding lead is Mr Suton, Deputy Headteacher Another critcal member of the pastoral team is our Family Liaison Ofcer, who works closely with the safeguarding team and families.

• Ultmately, your child can ask any member of staf for help regarding safeguarding.

Safeguarding - some key legal requirements

All schools are subject to a duty under secton 26 of the Counterterrorism and Security Act 2015 in the exercise of their functons to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This duty is known as the Prevent duty. Indicators of extreme behaviour includes some of the following:

• Verbal comments - praising ISIS or Jihad: praising extreme fgure heads ( e.g., Hitler); discussing other religions in a disparaging way.

• Peer actons - refusing to work with others owing to their religion/ beliefs.

• Personal beliefs - extreme views on foreign policy; claims they should fght for their people abroad.

• Communicatons - the use of social media to publicise extreme views, drawing infammatory images (e.g., swastkas)

What is the prevent strategy?

Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supportng terrorist or extremist causes. Prevent is a crucial element to safeguarding therefore it is essental that Millais, its staf and governors safeguard children from radicalisaton and extremism. This means that we have to protect our students and we have a duty to recognise concerns, maintain an open mind and report. The school Prevent lead is Mr Suton.

What we look for and who to report to

At Millais we understand that extremism and radicalisaton can be a sensitve topic. We expect all staf to uphold and promote the fundamental principles of Britsh Values and to educate all our Millais children on these values. Britsh values include:

• Democracy

• The rule of law

• Individual liberty and mutual respect

• Tolerance of diferent faiths and beliefs

It is Millais’ responsibility to ensure that all staf are trained to recognise and report concerns and report disclosures with sensitvity. All concerns and informaton will be reported and documented to our Safeguarding lead and designated Prevent ofcer, Mr Suton. Our designated prevent ofcer will then liaise with WSCC Prevent ofcer on behalf of the school , who will assess the risk and decide whether to refer the case further.

Social Media

(Twiter) (@millaisschool)

As outlined in the Millais Online Safety & Behaviour Policy, inappropriate social media use or online actvity can result in internal exclusion (I.E.), Fixed Term Suspension (FTS), or Permanent Exclusion (PEX) depending on the severity of the incident. We ask that our parents are role models online too.

Misuse of social media instances includes but is not limited to:

• Personal comments about teachers or students

• Misappropriaton of photographs of teachers or students

• Impersonatng staf or students on social media

• Postng malicious accusatons about staf members

• Postng homophobic remarks

• Postng racist remarks

• Postng sexual remarks or images

Whilst instances such as the above may occur via fake accounts or accounts created by non -Millais students, this won’t mater when it comes to disciplinary acton, as knowledge of these accounts without reportng them, or any actve agency at all (even just following the account) is strictly against the Millais Online Safety & Behaviour policy.

Standards

We have clear values and expectatons about behaviour, atendance and punctuality. We aim to ensure that all students demonstrate excellent behaviour for learning which actvely engages them in school life, while having core rules and routnes which ensure learning is a focus at all tmes. The rules and routnes ensure that behaviour is good or beter so that every student focuses on learning. Students are expected to maintain a smart appearance, be polite and courteous at all tmes and to have excellent at endance and punctuality.

Support for Students

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DI SABILITIES

At Millais, all students, whatever their needs or abilities, are valued and encouraged to develop confidence in themselves as learners and to have high aspirations for themselves.

Support is provided for any student who at any time in her school career is identified as requiring additional or different provision to help her to make progress.

We believe that all teachers need to have training and expertise in Special Educational Needs and Disability. We also promote an ethos of positive partnership between our staff and the parents/carers of our young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Our SEND Team (comprised of SENDCo, Deputy SENDCo and Learning Support Assistants) work in close collaboration with the Inclusion Manager and Learning Mentors, colleagues and parents/carers in order to overcome barriers to learning and progress.

Support strategies and interventions vary across the key stages and are tailored to meet the needs of students identified as being in need of support. These include:

Support for transition from primary school including special taster activities at Millais for Year 6 children (the Millais Moving On Groups), visits to the primary schools by the Director of Year and the Director of Learning for Specialist Intervention (SE NCO) and individualised support for Year 6 students needing extra transition support.

‘Wave 1’: full access to the National Curriculum suitably differentiated to take account of each individual’s needs and taught in classes by subject specialist teachers.

‘Wave 2’: literacy and numeracy intervention, including the use of Lexia ‘Power Up’ in Year 7 English lessons for students with the weakest literacy skills and small group numeracy intervention during Key Stage 3 for targeted students.

‘Wave 3’: personalised literacy/numeracy teaching is offered to students in Years 7, 8 and 9 if their SEND is a particular barrier to learning.  This is usually those with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP).

A ‘Study Support’ option at GCSE, for students who would benefit from taking Entry Level English and Maths.

In-class support from Learning Support Assistants with expertise in both curriculum subjects and individual needs.

Social and emotional nurture group work focussing on social skills, friendship etc. for targeted individuals at transition and throughout Key Stage 3.

Bespoke individual support and mentoring for students’ social and emotional well -being for targeted students.

Advice and support to subject teachers from a Dyslexia specialist teacher.

Access to key staff with whom trusting relationships can be developed so that students can share their concerns.

Further information is available on our website : https://www.millais.org.uk/about-us/statutoryinformation

Transport

Millais School is very well connected and accessible. We are fortunate to have strong public transport links in and around Horsham. Our students come to school in different ways be it by bike, bus, car, foot or train.

Horsham Train Station is a 10 minutes’ walk and is well serviced and Horsham Town Centre within 1 mile of the school.

Free transport or assistance with the cost of travel to school may be offered by the Local Authority, according to which school your child attends and the distance involved. Please apply to the Transport team through the West Sussex County Council Website (QR code below). It is important that parents and school co-operate in ensuring that good behaviour is maintained on school and public transport. https://www.millais.org.uk/parent-hub/travel-to-from-school

Tutor Groups

The Form Tutor and the Director of Year play an extremely important part in ensuring that our students are able to achieve, stay healthy, keep safe and make a positve contributon to the community. Each tutor has a designated form tutor and room. Form tutors remain with the same tutor group throughout Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, building long term relatonships as students’ progress through the school. Tutors are able to support and guide, encourage and help; directng students to the wide range of services available in school.

Uniform

The school has a clear and firm policy on uniform, and we ask parents to study it carefully and give it their full support. This avoids us having to spend valuable time reminding students about details or parents being involved in unnecessary expense by buying items of clothing which are unacceptable.

School Uniform identifies students with Millais School and should be worn with pride and a sense of responsibility.  A high standard of personal appearance is expected at all times.

Blazer – School Black – Incorporating the school logo.

Skirt – School Bottle Green/Black Tartan for Year 7 and 8 (Sept 2021) – This must come to below the knee.  Years 9-11 (Sept 2021) – this must come to the middle of the knee or below).

Trousers – School Black – incorporating the school logo on the front pocket.  These may be worn as an alternative to the skirt.

Jumper – Optional Black V-Neck with White Stripe incorporating the school logo. PE sweatshirt is not to be worn as an alternative.

Blouse – Regulation white blouse – revere collar, three-quarter length sleeve (incorporating the school logo in black on the collar).

Tights/Socks – Autumn half term to end of Spring term: Plain black opaque tights. Summer term to Autumn half term: Ankle length black or white socks may be worn as an alternative to flesh-coloured tights.

Shoes – Any comfortable black shoes. No boots. Shoes must not be above the ankle bone.  Laces must be black.  For safety reasons canvas shoes, platforms, stiletto heels, sling backs, backless and open toed shoes are not permitted.  In bad weather, boots may be worn to and from school, but must be changed to shoes in school.

Coat – Plain of any colour with no lettering etc.  The coat must be long enough to cover the blazer.  Hoodies, Sweatshirts, Fleeces and Denim Jackets are not acceptable.

Head Scarves - If worn for religious reasons should be plain black/bottle green.

Jewellery – Plain wristwatch is permitted, no smart watch.  Students may wear one small pair of plain ear studs, 2mm in diameter, only in the lobe of the ear. Other studs and piercings, including nose and tongue studs are not permitted.  Other jewellery must not be worn.

Hair/Make-Up/Nails - Hair should be one natural colour, appropriate to the individual and worn in a neat style for school.  Long hair must be tied back for practical lessons.  Shaved hair styles and dip dyed hair are not permitted.  Hair bands and clips should be a dark col our, functional, discreet and plain not decorative.  Make-up, nail varnish, false nails and false eyelashes are not permitted.

All items of uniform must be fully named / labelled.

Form tutors and subject teachers will check the correct uniform is being worn.  If there are temporary problems concerning the wearing of correct school uniform, a note of explanation to the tutor will save time and trouble to all concerned.

Requests for modifications to the uniform, including for religious reasons, must be in writing to the Headteacher with the reasons why the request is being made and the grounds on which approval is sought.

Our preferred uniform suppliers are:

A H

Broadbridge & Sons

3 Piries Place

Horsham

West Sussex

RH12 1EH 01403 259620 www.broadbridges.co.uk

Monkhouse Schoolwear Specialists

8 Bishopric Horsham

West Sussex RH12 1QR 01403 330218

www.monkhouse.com

There is also a selection of second-hand uniform available from the PTA contact at millaispta@gmail.com

Non-branded items can be purchased from any retailer as long as they are consistent with the requirements outlined above.

Values

The school community takes pride in upholding the highest standards of achievement, behaviour and personal ambition. These standards are reflected in the school motto ‘in pursuit of excellence’ and are underpinned by nine core values.

Millais School’s core values are regularly reviewed and agreed upon through extensive consultation with all members of the school community including students, parents, staff and governors.

Our values are reflected in the way in which we behave, work and treat one another.  They form the backbone of our assembly programme and feature in our conversations on a daily basis.  We are committed to promoting them at every opportunity.

RESPECT

We show consideration and compassion for others, ourselves and the environment in which we work and live, treating others as we would expect to be treated.

INTEGRITY

We are honest and trustworthy.  We uphold good moral and ethical principles in   all that we do and always consider the consequences of our actions.

COLLABORATION

We are able to work successfully with others, independently and in teams.    We share common experiences, learn from each other and celebrate together.

HAPPINESS

We enjoy school and the opportunities it affords us.  We strive to be satisfied   with all that we do, accepting life’s ‘ups and downs’.

CREATIVITY

We celebrate innovation, work with imagination and think about doing things in new ways to find the best solutions.

ASPIRATION

We set our sights high, always striving to improve our personal best.

SELF ESTEEM

We feel positive about ourselves as individuals and our role within our communities.  We actively seek opportunities to build our self-confidence.

DIVERSITY

We celebrate the fact that we are all different and that each of us has something unique to offer.

RESILIENCE

We have the ability to recover and learn from setbacks and challenging circumstances, moving forwards with a ‘can do’ attitude.

Welfare

Students frst port of call should be their form tutor if they wish to share a reason for celebraton or ask for support. Each year group has a Pastoral Team that are available to support all aspects of pastoral care.

For all other enquiries please use the contact buton on our school website. This will ensure that your enquiries get through to the right team

X Y Z

A useful guide to our school acronyms…

ADOL Assistant Director of Learning

CA Curriculum Area

CAS Community, Acton, Self, Framework

DOL Director of Learning (of Curriculum Area)

DOY Director of Year (7, 8, 9, 10 & 11)

DSL Designated Safeguarding Lead

DDSL Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

MAP Millais Alternatve Pathway

MCAS MyChildAtSchool parental engagement app

MFL Modern Foreign Languages

PCTL Progress & Commitment to Learning. PCTL's are a collecton of progress data on your child and shared at specifc tmes during the year

PTA Parent Teacher Associaton

SENCO Special Educatonal Needs Coordinator

SSL Student Support Leader

SLT Senior Leadership Team

SPA Supportng Pupil Achievement. More informaton and a tmetable is available on the Clubs and SPAs secton of our Parent Hub.