Parent Information Evening Year 9 September 2016

Introduction

Where to find this PowerPoint Presentation • This presentation will be added to the school website and emailed to all parents. • Locate under the ‘Parent’ tab – go to ‘Year group information’ (Year 9) on the drop-down list.

The Year team • • • • • •

Head of Year: Mrs J Brooke A: Mr G O’Doherty B: Mrs C Ferguson C: Miss Z Ivey D: Miss J Walker E: Mrs M Vila

The academic year Term 1: Term 2: finish) Term 3: Term 4: Term 5: Term 6:

Wednesday 5 September 2016 -Friday 21 October 2016 Monday 31 October 2016 -Friday 16 December 2016 (2pm Wednesday 4 January 2017 - Friday 10 February 2017 Monday 20 February 2017 - Friday 7 April 2017 Monday 24 April 2017 - Friday 26 May 2017 Monday 5 June 2017 -Friday 21 July 2017 (1.15 finish)

Key dates - parents • Early finish 15 September, 1.15pm, to prepare for Open Evening • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAYS 2015/2016 (School Closed to Students) • Friday 2 December 2016 • Tuesday 3 January 2017 • Friday 24 March 2017

Key dates - assessment • Progress Check 1 issued: week beginning 14 November Progress Check 2 issued: week beginning 6 February Progress Check 3 issued:week beginning 26 June • • • •

Parents Evening: 8 December Options Evening 9 February Tutor Reports issued: 17 July End of year examinations: 8-12 May

St. Katherine’s School Safeguarding Statement •

St. Katherine’s School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We strive to ensure that consistent effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school. • The Designated Safeguarding Lead is Hayden Southon, Deputy Headteacher (Inclusion). • The Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead is Justin Humphreys (Headteacher - Term 1) • Other staff trained in safeguarding are Julie Ball, Nicola King and Bronwyn Payne.

St. Katherine’s School Safeguarding Statement If you have any serious concerns about your child or any other student at St. Katherine’s School please do not hesitate to contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead who will be able to provide you with the best advice and help using the appropriate degree of confidentiality.

Online Safety • We want your child to be able to use ICT and mobile technology safely both in school and in the community. • To report an E-Safety incident please contact Mr Southon via Student Support or via this link [email protected]. • ICT support will be able to print screenshots from your mobile, tablet or social media account. • The Think U Know website provides a wealth of information, advice and guidance on a range of E-Safety issues.

Anti-bullying •

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The school believes in creating a safe environment where students feel safe to share any concerns or fears. Students are actively encouraged to report and incidents of bullying. They can do this by contacting any member of staff, completing a Bullying Incident Report Form or emailing [email protected]. Paper copies of the form are available from Student Support. Parents who would like to report any incidents of bullying should do so via their child's Head of Year. Preventative measures include giving guidance to help prevent bullying through assemblies, tutor time and PSHE lessons, supporting national activities such as Anti-bullying Week and undertaking an annual survey where all students can give their views on how safe they feel in school.

Anti-bullying Intervention Measures • The school will deal with each incident on a case by case basis following an investigation of the incident/s. Interventions will vary from restorative meetings and detentions through to formal exclusions.

Anti-bullying Support • The school will offer support to both the victims of bullying so that they feel confident in school and also to children who act as bullies so that they can change the way that they behave towards other students. This may involve work with external agencies. In addition, our Heads of Year can offer support for parents whose students are affected by bullying. • Any complaint about how incidents of bullying have been dealt with should in the first instance contact the Deputy Headteacher. If the issue(s) is unresolved contact should then be made with the Headteacher.

Attendance •

The government now classes a student with attendance below 90% as a persistent absentee, compared with the previous figure of 85%, regardless of whether the school has authorised or unauthorised the absence. This equates to 38 sessions or 19 days of absence across the year. • The Department for Education has published data on their website that clearly shows the link between attendance and attainment. This highlights the fact that there will be an impact on your child’s education and exam results if their attendance is not consistently above 95% throughout their schooling.

Attendance • If a student fails to achieve 90% attendance and has 10 or more sessions (half days) of unauthorised absence recorded on the attendance register in a given period, a penalty notice may be issued by the Local Authority. • The current law does not give any entitlement to parents to remove their child from school during term-time for the purpose of a holiday. Headteachers may only grant leave of absence where an application has been made in advance and we consider that there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application.

Days Absent 0 1 2 3 4 5 10 15 20 25 30 30 days for 5 Years

Weeks Absent 0 1 Days 2 days 3 days 4 days 1 week 2 weeks 3 weeks 4 weeks 5 weeks 6 weeks 30 weeks

% Attendance 100% 99.5 % 99% 98.5% 98% 97.5% 95% 92.5% 90% 87.5% 85% 1 YEAR absent from school

Behaviour expectations • We have very high expectations of our students which is based on the principle that, once students know the rules and the consequences, they can make the right choices for themselves and for others. • We want our boundaries to be very clear and there are clear consequences if they stray beyond them. At school, in every situation where there are rules, students either choose to follow them or they make a choice to break them and face the consequences. The rules have to be clear and the consequences need to be consistent for this to work and that is our aim in implementing this system.

Behaviour For Learning Our Behaviour For Learning system is centred on our ethos of respect, responsibility and resilience. Further to this we have four clear expectation for all of our students: • I will be on time, ready to learn • I will follow instructions first time • I will try my best at all times • I will respect myself and the school community

The podium of praise

House points system using existing PE Houses: • Cumulative behaviour points totals for each House will be kept and displayed around the school and via tutors. • These will be updated every two weeks and shared with students via assemblies. • Rewards will be given to students throughout the academic year.

C8 C7 C5 C4 PL C2 C1

• Isolation Day • Senior Leadership Team (SLT) Detention • After School Detention (Thursday) • Basic Expectations Detention

• Protecting Learning Faculty Detention • Final warning about behaviour • Warning about behaviour

Consequence Ladder 2016/2017

Uniform Compulsory Uniform: • Maroon blazer with school logo • White, collared shirt which buttons up to the neck • Maroon and silver tie/clip-on tie done up to the top button • Charcoal grey tailored trousers / or charcoal grey knee-length skirt (or longer) • Skinny style, hipsters, or flared trousers are not permitted • Lycra or ‘figure hugging’ skirts are not permitted • Denim, canvas, corduroy, linen or similar materials are not permitted • Plain white t-shirts (or vests) are permitted under the school shirt. Coloured t-shirts are not permitted to be worn under the school shirt.

Uniform Optional items: • Grey with maroon striped v-neck jumper with school logo. • No other jumpers or sweaters are permitted. Socks / tights : • Grey or black socks must be worn. • Grey or black plain or neutral colour tights are permitted. • Other colours are not permitted.

Uniform Footwear and belts: • Plain black, leather-style (polishable) flat school shoes should be worn without any branding, logos or embellishments. • Trainers, open-toed shoes or boots are not permitted. • Canvas or suede shoes are not permitted. • Plain black belts which fit through trouser loops may be worn.

Uniform Hair: • Hair must be worn in a style appropriate for school. Heads must not be shaved, nor should there be any style which the school believes would undermine the ethos or discipline of the school i.e. markings cut into the hair, dyed hair or any extreme fashion which would create any undue interest in the student. The colouring, high or low lighting of hair in natural colours is acceptable – other colours are not permitted. • Facial hair must be smartly trimmed and suitable for a school environment. Shaving/markings cut into eyebrows are not permitted.

Uniform • Caps and baseball hats are not permitted in school. These items will be confiscated and returned at the end of the next day following a note in the Student Planner from a parent/carer. Woollen hats are permitted in the winter months but must not be worn inside buildings. • The school reserves the right to withdraw a student from lessons if his/her hairstyle is not appropriate for school.

Uniform Jewellery/piercings and Make up • Students are permitted to wear only one small stud per ear, one flat ring per hand, a single thin silver or gold metal necklace and a watch. No other jewellery is permitted. Any jewellery must be removed for PE. • No piercings other than ears are allowed. Students are permitted to wear one pair of small ear studs (approximately 5mm in diameter) Only medical bracelets are permitted. It is not permitted to wear sunglasses in lessons.

Uniform • Make up should be kept to minimum and barely visible. The use of false nails, coloured nail varnish or false eyelashes is not permitted. Students will be requested to remove such items. Visible body tattooing is not permitted.

Buses • All buses have bus monitors, selected very carefully and trained for the role (Year 11-13). These students will make themselves known to bus users. • Usually, they notice problems themselves and deal with them appropriately. • Students should tell the monitors about any problems as they arise. • Parents should report any problems to the school asap so appropriate action can be taken.

Cycling to school safely • All cyclists are expected to wear cycle helmets. • A secure bike shed (behind the English block) is available for students. • An assembly on cycling safely will be given to all students.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities At St. Katherine’s School we are fully committed to recognising and providing provision and support for the needs of all our learners including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The SENCO at St Katherine's is Hayden Southon. For any issue relating to SEND please contact him on 01275 373737 or e-mail [email protected] or alternatively contact Kerry Mullinder, Inclusion Manager on 01275 373737 or email [email protected].

Year 9 English curriculum Topics Term 1: Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

Homework: Each term students are expected to plan, produce and polish an extended piece of independent writing.

Term 2: Conflict poetry Term 3: Interrogating the news Term 4: Miller’s The Crucible Term 5: Sophocles’ Antigone

Term 1: Letter Term 2: Narrative Term 3: Article Term 4: Review Term 5: Speech Term 6: Narrative

Term 6: Shakespeare's Macbeth

Students will be assessed using the new 9-1 GCSE criteria.

We also expect students to read regularly - on average 20 minutes a day.

Year 9 maths curriculum • All students are taught in groups based on prior attainment to ensure teaching is at a pace that suits their learning. • Students will be working towards mastering a variety of topics from the Algebra, Data Handling, Numeracy and Shape Space and Measures. • Student progress is monitored by routine marking, homeworks and termly assessments. • Students will sit their end of KS3 exams in term 5 and then in term 6 they will begin their GCSE course. Results from the KS3 course will help determine which GCSE pathway they will follow.

Science for Year 9

Students will study: Biology

Chemistry

Physics

New technology in Biology

New technology in Chemistry

New technology in Physics

Turning points in Biology

Turning points in Chemistry

Turning points in Physics

Detection in Biology

Detection in Chemistry

Detection in Physics

The year 9 course revises key content from year 7 and 8 and introduces students to GCSE knowledge and skills. New technology chapters will focus on new scientific techniques, turning point chapters will focus on the work of famous scientists and detection chapters will focus on the science behind forensic investigations. In term 6 students will complete transition work, to ensure that they are ‘GCSE ready’. Assessments will occur at the end of every chapter (nine a year). Students will sit two Science examinations based on all of their KS3 work in term 3. The result of this exam will be used to decide who is considered for the triple GCSE science option. Transition skills tests will also be given in term 5 and 6 to assess whether students are ‘GCSE ready’. Students can use revision guides purchased in year 7 / 8 but there will be an opportunity to purchase a revision guide as well.

Year 9 PSHE curriculum Topics covered in Year 9 are: • British Values • Careers • Crime • SRE and keeping safe- FGM, dangers of Porn, Grooming • Drugs and substance misuse • There will also be an SRE collapsed day, a session on self harm, and careers opportunities and visits.

homework

Show My Homework • All teachers will continue to post homework tasks online, using Show My Homework. • Some of the homework tasks may also be explained on Google Classroom.

How does it work? • Students can access Show My Homework on their computer, phone or tablet. • Go to the school website and click on the icon at the top of the page.

How does it work?

• This is what you will then see...

How does it work? Here’s what the colours mean: •Grey means ‘due in today’ •Green means ‘due in a number of days time’ (see number in corner) •Blue means an ‘exam’ •Purple means an ‘in-class test’

How does it work? • You can see all your child’s homework using the calendar and the filter buttons • But you also have a login and an account which shows your child’s personal ‘to do list’.

How does it work? • Teachers post homework to the school calendar and to the student’s calendar.

How does it work? • This homework appears on the student’s to do list. Once completed, the student can remove it.

On the move? • Mobile friendly webpage • iOS and Android Apps • 24/7 access to all homework

Google Apps for Education GAfE

What is it? At St Katherine’s School all students and staff are provided with a Google Education account that provides access to all Google apps including Gmail, Gcal, Drive and Classroom.

These system are increasingly being used to share vital information with students and enhance learning opportunities. All students have been given a username of the form [email protected] .

How can I help my child? Install the Chrome browser on your home machine.

Set up the @skdrive.org login and save it on the Chrome browser. Ask your child to show you how work is set via Google Classroom.

Set up Google Apps on other portable devices such as tablets and phones. Contact [email protected] for further advice.

How to get in touch Head of Year: [email protected] •A [email protected] •B [email protected] •C [email protected] •D [email protected] •E [email protected]